ANACAKDIACEJK. 78 BHUS. 



ZANTHOXYLUM. 



Perfect JI. Calyx inferior, 5-parted ; corolla 0; stamens 

 3 — 6; pistils 3 — 5; carpels 3—5, l-seeded. Pislillnlcjl. Wke 

 the perfect, but wanting tlie sfannens. Slaminatejl. like the 

 perfect, but wanting the pistils. 



Gr. ^avSoi, yellow, |yXov, wood; from the color of the wood. 

 Z. America'num. 



Prickiy ; leaves pinnate ; leaflets ovate, sub-entire, sessile, equal at the base ; 

 nmhfils axillary. Tlie prickly ash is a shrub 10 or 12 feet liiffh, growing in 

 woods in most parts of the U. S. The branches aie armed with strong, coni- 

 cal, brown prickles with a broad base. Leaflets about 5 pairs, with an odd 

 one, smooth above, downy beneath ; common petioles, with or without prick- 

 les. Flowers in sn)all, dense umbels, axillary, greenish, appearing before the 

 leaves. The perfect and staminate ones grow upon the same, and the pistilate, 

 uoon a separate tree. The bark is bitter, aromatic and stimulant, used for 

 rheumatism and to alleviate the tooth-ache. Apr. May. 



Pricldy Jlsh. Tooth-achc-tree. 



ORDER XXXIV. ANACARDJACE/E. The Cusheio Tribe. 



Flowers perfect, sometimes polygamous or tliccciuus, reg:ular, small. 



Cal. — Sepals 3 — 5, united at base, persistent. 



Cor. — Petals same number as sepals, sometimes 0, imbricate in ajstivatinn, 



Sta.—As many as petals, alternate willi tliera, distinct, on the base ol'tUe calyx. 



Ova. — 1-celled, free. Ovule onp. Styles 3 or 0. Stigy/mso. . 



Fr. — A beny or drupe, usually the latter and one-seeded. 



An order of trees and shrubs, chiefly natives of tropical regions, represented in the United 

 States by the genus Rhus only. 



Propertus. These plants abound in a resinous juice, which is often poisonous, but is used 

 as an indelible ink in marking linen, and as an ingredient in varnish. Even the exhalations, 

 from some of the species are deeinecl poisonous. The Cashew nut is the product of a small 

 tree of both Indies. When fresli the kernel is full of a milky juice, and has a most deli- 

 cious taste, but the coats are filled with a caustic oil which blisters the skin, and kills warts. 



RHUS. 



Calyx of 5 sepals united at the base; petals and stamens 5; 

 fruit a small, l-sceded, subglobose drupe. 



Said to be from Qtoj^ to flow ; because it is u.seful in stopping hcemorrhage- 

 * Leaves pinnate. 

 1. R. GLABRA. 



Leaflets smooth, lanceolate, acuminate, acutely serrate, whitish beneath ; 

 fruit downy. A common Sumach, growing in thickets and waste grounds, 

 6 — 12 feet liigh. The shri>b consists of many straggling branches, and is 

 smooth in all its parts. Leaves pinnate, with a dozen or more pairs of leaflets. 

 Flowers in terminal clusters, numerous, dense, greenish-red, succeeded in 

 Autumn by crimson colored drupes. These are at length covered with a 

 whitish crust, extremely acid. The drupes dye red. The bark of this, as welJ 



