IN CALIFORNIA 113 



but a thin layer of pulp spread over a large stone. 

 "What there is of the fruit is pleasant enough to the 

 taste, but like Sam Weller's valentine, one could 

 wish there was more of it. The Spanish-Californi- 

 ans call it islay, and by the Indians it was utilized 

 both pulp and pit the latter being cracked to re- 

 lease the kernel which was then treated like the 

 acorns and made into meal. 



The chaparral trails also give us a new idea in 

 sumacs, which we value in the East for the autumnal 

 glories of their pinnate leaves in red and orange, 

 and their thyrses of crimson fruit, lasting far into 

 the winter. The California chaparral is the home 

 of two or three species so different from the eastern 

 forms as to be unrecognizable as sumacs by the non- 

 botanical. Their leaves are simple, not compound, 

 more or less thick and leathery of texture and 

 persist through the winter. One species (Rhus in- 

 tegrifolia) attains the proportions of a small tree, 

 and is known locally as mahogany, because of the 

 rich red, hard wood of its heart. This and the kin- 

 dred species Rhus ovata, possess an especial inter- 

 est in the character of the berries that they bear. 

 These, which are ripe in late summer, are flat and 

 circular with a thin, sticky pulp densely covered 

 with a fine crimson down. They are very acid, and 

 may be used advantageously to enliven the warm 



