N. ORD.—ANACARDIACE&. | 3o7 
GENUS.—RHUS, LINN. 
SEX. SYST.—PENTANDRIA TRIGYNIA. 
RHUS VENENATA. 
POLSON SUMACH. 
SYN.—RHUS VENENATA, D. C. 
COM. NAMES.—POISON OR SWAMP SUMACH, POISON ELDER, POISON OR 
SWAMP DOGWOOD, POISON ASH, POISON TREE, POISON WOOD. 
A TINCTURE OF THE BARK OF RHUS VENENATA, D. C. 
Description.—This too common swamp shrub grows to a height of from 6 to 
30 feet. Stem erect, branching at the top; dvanches smooth or nearly so, some- 
times verrucose. eaves odd-pinnately compound ; feézo/e brilliant red or purplish ; 
leaflets 7 to 13, smooth, ovate-lanceolate, acute, entire. /nflorescence loose, slender, 
erect panicles, in the axils of the uppermost leaves; flowers polygamous, greenish- | 
white; pedicels pubescent. Calyx persistent. /7uit a persistent, drooping, thyrs- 
oid receme of globular, smooth, grayish-white berries, about the size of a small 
pea; desta thin, papyraceous, loose and shining; muéet oblong, flattened, longitu- 
dinally striate by deep sulci; zzner coat soft, membranaceous, incised ; cotyledons 
somewhat thick and fleshy. ‘ 
History and Habitat.—The Poison Sumach is indigenous to North America, 
ranging from Florida to Mississippi and northward to Canada. It habits swampy 
ground, and blossoms in June at the north. 
This most poisonous of our northern species has at times been confounded 
and considered identical with the Japanese 2. vernix, L.; how near the resem- 
blance may be I have had no opportunity to judge; however, we, as Homee- — 
opathists, should not confound. them, as’ climatic difference may cause varying 
properties, and 2. vernix may yet be proven. } 
The poisonous nature of this species has precluded its use in domestic and pre- 
vious practices; the principal effort concerning it has been attempts by farmers and 
others toward its extermination; very few persons, however, who understand the 
plant will even approach its vicinity unless compelled by circumstances to do so. 
Like the 2. vernix of Japan, the wounded bark in spring and autumn exudes 
a thick, whitish, opaque and viscid fluid, having a penetrating smell, which on : 
exposure soon changes to a deep black. On boiling the juice in water long 
enough to evaporate the volatile oil, and applying the resulting fluid to any sub- 
stance, it forms a glossy-black permanent coating; thus making a varnish of value 
which might be used in lieu of the famous Japanese varnish which they utilize so 
extensively upon their fans, boxes, and household utensils and furniture. 
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