RHUS SUMAC. 



119 



as a gargle for sore throat. Nor has its use been confined entirely to do- 

 mestic practice, for many excellent practitioners, especially those resident 

 in the country where the fruit is readily accessible, employ it habitually 

 as a cooling drink and, either alone or as a basis, for gargles. 



The leaves and bark owe whatever of medicinal activity they possess to 

 the presence of tannic and gallic acids, and may be employed as simple 

 vegetable astringents wherever such remedies are indicated. 



FIG. 117. Rhus Toxicodendron. A flowering branch, one -half natural 6lze 



2. Poisonous Species. Flowers polygamous, in loose and slender ax- 

 illary panicles. Fruit globular, glabrous, whitish or dun-colored ; stone 

 striate. Leaves unequally pinnate or trifoliate. 



Rhus Toxicodendron Linne. Poison Ivy, Poison Oak. 



Description. A low shrub or tall climber, according to the circum- 

 stances in which it is placed. Leaflets 3, rhombic-ovate, entire, or vari- 

 ously cut and lobed, smooth and shining above, downy beneath. Panicles 

 small, flowers minute, fruit about the size of small peas, greenish. 



