ANACARDIACEiE. 77 



testa chestuut-brown, showing a large white hilum. Cotyledons large, 

 iieshy, somewhat coherent. 



1. iH, Californica, Nutt. in T. & G. Fl. i. 251 (1838) ; Spach, Phaner. 

 iii. 35 (183-1:), under Calolhjirsus. A low spreading tree, glabrous, except 

 the petiolnles and inflorescence which are minutely pubescent : leaflets 5, 

 on distinct stalklets, oblong or elhptic-oblong, mostly rounded at base, 

 acute or acuminate at apex, serrulate, 3 — 5 in. long : thyrsus cylindrical, 

 often 1 ft. long : calyx 2-lobed, the lobes scarcely toothed : corolla white 

 with a faint tinge of rose, % in. long : stamens 5 — 7, long-exserted : frnit 

 smooth, usually 1-seeded : seed 1 in. thick. — Tree often 25 or 30 feet 

 high, the rounded or depressed head of still greater breadth : very com- 

 mon throughout middle California, l)ut much_ smaller in the foothills of 

 the Sierra than along the coast. Admirable specimens are seen at Shell 

 Mound, and on Point Isabel. Fl. May ; fr. Nov. 



ObderIX. ANACARDIACE/E. 



LincUey, Introduction to Nat. Syst. 2 ed. 166 (1836). 

 Shrubs or trees with resinous and often acrid juice, alternate exstipulate 

 leaves, and small variously clustered regular flowers. Stamens definite 

 in number, as many or twice as many as the petals. Pistil 1 ; ovary free 

 from the calyx. Fruit drupaceous. — Represented here by two species of 

 the genus 



RHUS, Tlieoplirastus. Ours deciduous shrubs with trifoliolate leaves 

 and small perfect or unisexual flowers in axillary bracted panicles or 

 spikes. Sepals and petals usually 5. Stamens inserted under the edge 

 of a disk lining the base of the calyx. Pistil 1 ; styles 3, distinct or 

 united. Fruit a small compressed drupe with thin flesh and ligneous 

 putamen. Seed erect ; albumen 0. 



* Floirers greenish, in stnall a.iillary panicles, appearing with the leaces ; 



<hvpe irhite ; putamen striate.— Genus Toxicodendeon, Tourn. 



1. R. diversiloba, T. & G. Fl. i. 218 (1838) ; Lindl. Bot. Keg. xxi. t. 

 38 ; Hook. Fl. i. 127. t. 46. Erect and 3-6 ft. high, or ascending trees 

 by aerial roots to the height of 15 ft. or more : leaflets ovate, obovate or 

 elliptical, 1 — 4 in. long, variously lobed or toothed, the indentations 

 obtuse, or the leaflet rarely entire : panicles short-peduncled, more or less 

 pendulous : fl. Ifg lines long : fr. 2—3 lines broad.- Copious in the 

 Coast Range hills, preferring cool northward slopes and the banks of 

 streams ; absent from the more elevated portions of the Sierra ; the 

 terror of many excursionists and of some botanists, and commonly called 

 Poison Oak. 



* * Floirers yelloir, in stnnll dense spikes, appearing before tlie leaves ; 



drupe red, hairy ; putamen smooth. — Genus Lobadium, Raf. 



