R PI U 



R II U 



sometimes only half so high, frequently thicker 

 than the human arm. very much branched from 

 the bottom irregularly ; the wood white, the 

 bark ash-coloured. The branches round, scar- 



v.ith a smoothish testaceous bark. The 

 leava alternately scattered, coriaceous, large, 

 quite entire, very smooth, becoming ferruginous 

 underneath, scarcely nerved exempt the midrib, 

 having a longitudinal streak on the upper sur- 

 face, of a wide-lanceolate form, more attenuat- 

 ed towards the thick petiole. The flowering- 

 buds formed in autumn for the year following, 

 and consisting of ferruginous, ovate-acute, con- 

 cave, vcrv smooth, imbricate scales. The 

 flowers in a short raceme at the end of the 

 branchlets, about ten, and very handsome. It 

 is a native of the Levant, flowering in May and 

 June. 



The fifth rises in its native soil, fifteen or 

 sixteen feet high, with a shrubbv stalk, sending 

 out a few branches towards the top. The leaves 

 stiff, smooth, six inches long and two broad, of 

 a lucid green on their upper side, and pale on 

 their under, whilst voung; but after* ards chang- 

 ing to the colour of rusty iron: they have short 

 thick footstalks, and are placed without order 

 round the branches : between these the buds are 

 formed for the next vear's flowers; these swell 

 to a 1. - ■ during the autumn and spring 



the till the beginning of June, when the 



s bum out from their covers, forming a 

 roundish sessile bunch or corvnib. It is a na- 

 tive of North America, flowering here from 

 June to August. 



Culture. — These plants may be increased by 

 sowing the seeds, which are very small, as 

 'lie alter thev are procured, ei- 

 ther in a shady border, or in pots filled with 



loam, having them verv lightly covered 

 with a tittle tine mould, and plunging the pots up 

 to their rim? in a shady border, and in hard 

 nx»1 coverim.: them with !>el!- or hand-g: 

 taking them off in mild weather. \\ ben they 



tvii earlv in autumn, the plants come up 

 the following spring, when they must be kept 

 shaded from the sun, especially the lirst sum- 

 mer, and dulv refreshed with water : in tile au- 

 tumn following removing them to a Miadv situ i- 



on a loamy sort, covering the ground 

 about the roots with moss, to guard tiitm from 



u winter and keep the ground moist in 

 -maimer season. 



, may also be increased from suckers or 



. which they produce plentifully where 

 a» naturally, but seldom in ti. 



y are verv ornamental in the border, 

 clumps, and other parts ofshrubberw 

 IUilBA-RB. See Khu.m. 



RHUS, a genus containing plants of the tree 

 and shrub kinds ; Sumach ana endron. 



It belong In the el.iss ami order Peniandrit, 

 Trigutia s and ranks in the natural order of Du- 



BB8I 



The characters are : that the calvx is a 

 parted perianth, inferior, erect, permanent : the 

 corolla has five ovate jx-tais, from upright 

 spreading: the stamina have five vcrv short 

 filaments : anthers small, shorter than the 

 corolla : the pistillum is a superior roundish 

 germ, the size of the corolla: styles scarerly 

 any : stigmas three, cordate, small : the peri- 

 carpium is a roundish one-celled berry : the seed 

 one, roundish, bony. 



The species are ; 1. R. coriaria, Elm-leaved 

 Sumach; 2. R. typhinwn, Stag's Horn Vir- 

 ginian Sumach; 3. R. glabrum, Scarlet Sumach; 

 4. R. eligans, Carolina Sumach ; 5. R. copalli- 

 num, Lcntiscus-leaved Sumach ; 6. R. ootimts, 

 Venice Sumach; 7. R. toxicodendron, Trailing 

 Poison-oak, or Sumach ; 8. R. vi-rniv, Varnish 

 Sumach ; 9. R. radiants, Rooting Poison-oak, or 

 Sumach ; 10. R. tomentosum, Wooly-leaved 

 Sumach; I ] . JR. august [folium, Narrow-leaved 

 Sumach; 1-2. R. lucidum, Shining-leaved Su- 

 mach. 



The first has a strong woody stem dividing 

 into many irregular branches, and rises to the 

 height of eight or ten feet; the bark is hairv, 

 and of an herbaceous brown colour w hilst voung: 

 The leaves are composed of seven cr eight pairs 

 of leaflets terminated by an odd one: the su 

 leaflets are qbout two inches long, and half an 

 inch wide in the middle, and of a yellowish 

 green colour. The flowers grow in loose pani- 

 cles at the end of the branches, each panicle 

 being composed of several thick spikes of flow* 

 ers sitting close to the footstalks : they are of a 

 whitish herbaceous colour, and appear in July . 

 It grows naturally in Italy, Spain, fccc. 



The branches are used instead of oak-bark 

 for tanning leather, and it is said that Turkev 

 leather is all tanned with this shrub. 



The second species has a woody stem, from 

 which are sent out many irregular branches, 

 generally crooked and defoamed. The young 

 branches are covered with a soft velvet-like 

 down, greatly resembling that of a rnua 

 horn bo;h 111 colour and texture, whence it has 



.rlv the name of the Stag's Hera Tree. I b 

 lea: II pan.- ot leaflets, termi- 



nated bv an odd one ; their under surface and 

 the midrib are hairy. The fldweTfl are produced 

 in close tutts at the end of the branches in July, 

 and are followed by seeds, inclosed in purple 

 woolv succulent covers, 10 that the bunches are 

 of a beautiful purple colour in autumn : U 



