556 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PARTY tl. 
leather, and pecled off afterwards in scales. (Travels, i. p. 177., as quoted in 
Martyn’s Miller.) R. radicans was introduced into British gardens in 1640, 
and is common in collections in two distinct varieties. One, a dwarf kind, 
about a yard or less in height, with several upright stems ; and emitting from 
about the bases of these stems numerous prostrate runners, which extend 
several, sometimes many, feet from the plant, and root into the earth : the other 
rising to a much greater height, having fewer stems, and being but little prone 
to emit prostrate runners, but producing, in the upper part, flexile and rather 
long branches, that climb when contiguous to objects of support; perhaps 
rather by emitted fibres than by convolution. 
x & 11. R. (r.) Toxicopr’npron Lin. The Poison-tree Rhus, or Sumach. 
a race Lin. Spec., 381.; Hook. Fl. Bor. Amer., 1. p. 127.; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 69.; Don’s 
BLS, es Pde ; 
Synonymes. R. Toxicodéndron quercifvlium Michx. Flor. Bor, Amer., 1. p. 182., Pursh Fl. Sept. Amer., 
1. p. 205.; Toxicodéndron pubéscens Mill. Dict., No. 2., R.T. serratum Mill. Dict.; the com 
" mon Poison Oak, Poison Nut, Poison Vine. 
Engraving. N. Du Ham., 2. t.48.; and our fig. 231. 
Spec. Char., §c. Leaf of one pair of leaflets, and an odd one, the odd one 
upon a petiole; all inciso-angulate, pubescent. (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 69.) A 
native of North America. Dr. Hooker remarks, that American botanists are 
at variance with regard to the distinctive characteristics of R. Toxicodén- 
dron and #. radicans. Nuttall says, that they are certainly different. Pursh, 
and most other authors, either unite them, or speak with doubt as to the 
value of their distinctive characters. (Hook. Bor. Amer., i. p. 127.) 
Description, Sc. The general appearance 
of this shrub closely resembles that of R. ra- 
dicans, of which, in all probability, it is only 
a variety. The male flowers, which are pro- 
duced on separate plants from the female 
ones, come out from the side of the stalks, 
on close short spikes, and are of a pale green. 
The female flowers are produced in loose 
panicles, agreeing in shape and colour with 
the males; but are larger, and have a round- 
ish germ supporting three very short styles. 
This species is common in woods, fields, and 
along fences, from Canada to Georgia, where, 
like the Rhus radicans, it is known by the 
name of the poison oak, or the poison vine. 
R. Toxicodéndron was introduced into Eng- 
land in 1640, when it was cultivated in the 
Bishop of London’s garden at Fulham; it is now frequent in collections. 
hk. Toxicodéndron yields a yellowish milky sap, the properties of which, as 
an indelible ink, are similar to those of the sap of R.radicans. The plant in 
the garden of the London Horticultural Society, in 1834, formed a bush 5 ft. 
high, and 5 ft. in diameter, after having been 10 years planted ; and it is there 
readily distinguished from &. radicans by its deeply sinuated, or almost 
pinnatifid, leaflets. 

§ iii, Thezéra Dee. 
Sect. Char. Leaf of 3—5 sessile leaflets, disposed palmately. Flowers in 
short racemes. Sexes dicecious. Styles 3, distinct, short. Drupe round- 
ish, marked-at the tip with 3 tubercles; the nut compressed. (Dec. Prod., 
li. p. 72.) 
2 12. R. penrapuy’LLA Desf. The five-leajleted-leaved Rhus, or Sumach, 
Identification. Desf. Fl. Atl., 1. p. 267. t. 77.; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 72. ; Don’s Mill., 2. p. 75. 
Synonymes. Rhamnus pentaphyllus Jacg. Obs., 2. p. 27.3 R. Theztra (from thexas, a point, in 
reference to the prickles), Pers. Ench., 1. p. 325., Tin. Pug., 1. p.'/. 
Engraving. Bocce. Sic., t. 21, 
Spec. Char., §c. Branches bearing spines, Petiole indistinctly winged. Leaflets 8—5, linear-lance- 
olate at the tip broader, obtuse, entire, or having 3 teeth. (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 72.) Ashrub, growing: 
to the height of 10 ft., a native of Sicily and Barbary, and introduced in 1816. The fruit is acidu. 
lous and eatable, and the bark dyes red, and is used in tanning leather, 
