446 ANACARDIACEAE 



the leaflets become very large and tliin, in dry situations reduced in size and thickened. The 

 flowers are more or less polygamous. In certain districts there arc, distinctly, staminate shrubs 

 and pistillate shrubs, the former of course setting no fruits. The staminate shrubs shed their 

 inflorescences rather promptly. Even in the same panicle the petals vary in number from 4 to 6, 

 though commonly 5. The stamens also vary, but vary with the petals. 



Bees make honey from the flowers. The nectar disk contains none of the toxic oil of the 

 shrub and the honey is, therefore, not poisonous. 



The shrub is on the whole a valued plant for browse. Horses feed upon it at nearly every 

 season, and cattle do so whenever grass or, especially, green forage becomes scarce. It is, on 

 this account, particularly valued in dry seasons Avheu it may be depended upon to prevent starva- 

 tion of range herds. 



Note on toxicity. — As a skin irritant, often causing intense and extremely painful dermatitis, 

 the plant juice is highly poisonous. On exposure to the poison reaction varies greatly in different 

 individuals. Great and prolonged pain is the lot of some persons, and in rare cases the eyesight 

 has been lost. On the other hand many persons escape with small inconvenience and a very few 

 have complete immunity. The poison is a non-volatile oil and a person may be poisoned only by 

 actual contact with the bushes, or through smoke particles, or by touching objects where the 

 poison has been distributed. The clothing and body of persons passing through Ehus diversiloba 

 thickets may become heavily infected with the oil, and in this manner minute particles are un- 

 consciously distributed on stair-railings, door-handles, seats and other places. After exposure 

 of the body to the poison the oil may be dissolved and removed from infected spots on the skin 

 by use of alcohol and a sterilized cotton swab, the alcohol to be changed frequently and each 

 swab of cotton to be used only once, that is for one stroke only and instantly rejected, for the 

 reason that the dissolved oil, even in the most minute quantities, spreads so readily. 



Locs. — S. Cal.: San Diego, W. S. Wright 21; Clevinger Canon, Eamona, Jepson; Palomar 

 Mt., Jepson; Eaton Canon, San Gabriel Mts., Peirson 325. Coast Eanges: Los Gates Creek, w. 

 Fresno Co., Jepson 12,196; Arroyo Seco, Santa Lucia Mts., Jepson; Monterey, Berg; Felton, 

 Santa Cruz Co., Jepson 4169; Saratoga, Santa Clara Co., Jepson; Tunitas Creek, San Mateo Co., 

 Jepson; Mt. Diablo, Jepson; Berkeley, Jepson 13,912; Nortonville, e. Contra Costa Co., Jepson 

 15,716; Green Valley, sw. Solano Co., Jepson 1739; Vaca Mts., Jepson; York Creek, St. Helena, 

 Jepson 2427; betw. Ft. Bragg and Sherwood, Jepson; School-house Creek, Cahto, Mendocino Co., 

 Jepson; Pepperwood, Humboldt Co., Jepson; Martin ranch, South Fork Trinity Eiver, Jepson 

 2000; Dunsmuir, Siskiyou Co., Jepson; Cottage Grove, Klamath Eiver, Jepson. Great Valley: 

 lower Sacramento Eiver islands (Erythea 1:242); Eosewood, w. Tehama Co., Jepson. Sierra 

 Nevada foothills: Nelson, Middle Tule Eiver, Jepson; Clough Cave, South Fork Kaweah Eiver, 

 Jepson; Cedar Creek, North Fork Kaweah Eiver, Jepson; Auberry, Fresno Co., Jepson; El 

 Portal, Mariposa Co., Jepson; Coulterville, Jepson; Hetch-Hetchy, Jepson; Yankee Hill, Tuol- 

 umne Co., Jepson 6414; Gwin Mine, Calaveras Co., Jepson 1760; Auburn, Sonne; Berry Creek, 

 Butte Co., Jepson; Eich Pt., Middle Fork Feather Eiver, Jepson; Belden, Plumas Co., Jepson; 

 Cow Creek Mts., Shasta Co., Baker 4' Nutting. 



Eefs. — Ehus diversiloba T. & G. Fl. 1:218 (1838), type loc. "borders of woods, etc., Ore- 

 gon," Douglas, Nuttall, and "California," Beechey, Nuttall; Jepson, Man. 608, fig. 602 (1925). 

 Toxicodendron diversilohum Greene, Lflts. 1:119 (1905). B. toxicodendron var. diversiloba 

 K. Bdg. Zoe 2:345 (1892). R. diversiloba f. radicans McNair, Field Mus. Publ. Bot. 4:61 (1925). 

 Toxicodendron oxycarpum Greene, Lflts. 1:121 (1905), Santa Cruz, Ball. T. isophyllum Greene, 

 I.e., type loc. San Jacinto, Leiierg 3117. T. comarophyllum Greene, Lflts. 1:120 (1905), type 

 loc. Tighe's, at foot of Ballena grade, San Diego Co., Palmer. T. dryophilum Greene, Lflts. 1 :121 

 (1905), type loc. Little Chico Creek, Butte Co., B,. M. Austin. T. vaccarum Greene, Lflts. 1:122 

 (1905), type loc. Cow Creek Mts., Shasta Co., BaTcer 4" Nutting. 



2. R. trilobata Nutt. Squaw Bush. Diffusely branching, 2 to 3^2 (or 7) 

 feet high; leaflets broadly ovate or elliptic, cuneate at base, crenate or lobed; 

 flowers pale yellow, appearing before the leaves, borne in terminal often clustered 

 spikes; drupe viscidly pilose, red or bright crimson. 



Rich hill slopes or flats or carion bottoms in the hill country, 100 to 4000 feet : 

 almost throughout California. North to Oregon, east to the Rocky Mts. Mar. 



Econ. note. — The Squaw Bush was of importance to the native tribes in their crafts, since 

 the long slender split stems were used as splints in their finest basket making. The berries, used 

 green and eaten with salt, were highly appreciated. The bushes crown-sprout. About North 

 Fork sta., Fresno Co., where this species is common, it is called Stink Bush. 



Locs. — S. Cal.: Jamul, s. San Diego Co., Wiggins 1946; Hot Springs Mt., San Diego Co., 

 Jepson 8745; Indian Canon, Collins Valley, ne. San Diego Co., Jepson; Palomar Mt., Jepson; 

 Vandeventer ranch, Eiverside Co., Jepson; San Bernardino, Parish; Arroyo Seco and Monrovia 

 canons, San Gabriel Mts., Peirson 342; Arrastre Canon, San Gabriel Mts., Peirson 418; Cotton- 

 wood Spr., Cottonwood Mts., n. of Mecca, Jepson 12,571a; New York Mts., e. Mohave Desert, 

 Jepson; Mono Flat, Santa Barbara Co., A. L. Grant 1684. Coast Eanges: Pozo to La Panza, 



