TEREBINTHACE.E. XVII. RHUS. 



71 



niture, every vein of die wood may be clearly seen. For the 

 most part a dark "round is spread underneath it, which causes it 

 to reflect like a mirror, and for this purpose recourse is fre- 

 quently had to the fine sludge, which is got in the trough under 

 a grind-stone, or to ground charcoal ; occasionally a red sub- 

 stance is mixed with the varnish, and sometimes leaf-gold, 

 ground very fine. This varnish hardens very much, but will 

 not endure any blows, cracking and flying almost like glass, 

 though it can stand boiling water without any damage. With 

 this the Japanese varnish over the posts of their doors, and most 

 articles of household furniture, which are made of wood. It 

 far exceeds the Chinese and Siamese varnish, and the best is 

 collected about the town of Jassino. It is cleared from impu- 

 rities by wringing it through very fine paper ; then about a 

 hundredth part of an oil called toi, which is expressed from the 

 fruit of liignonia tomentosa is added to it, and being put into 

 wooden vessels, either alone or mixed with native cinnabar, or 

 some black substance, it is sold all over Japan. The expressed 

 oil of the seeds serves for candles. The tree is said to be equally 

 poisonous with the Rhiis vcnenala, or American poison-tree. 



Garnish-bearing Sumach or Japan Varnish-tree. Clt. 1818. 

 Tree 30 feet. 



15 R. VENENA'TA (D. C. prod. 2. p. 68.) leaves with 6-7 

 pairs of smoothish deciduous leaflets ; petioles naked ; leaflets 

 ovate-lanceolate, acuminated, quite entire, netted with veins 

 beneath. Tj . H. Native of North America, from Canada to 

 Carolina, in low copses, where it is called Poison-sumach or 

 Poison-mood. Dill. elth. t. 292. R. vernix, Lin. spec. 380. 

 Big. mod. hot. 1. p. 96. t. 10. Wats. dend. brit. t. 19. Toxi- 

 codendron pinnatum, Mill. diet. no. 5. Flowers dioecious, 

 green. Fruit white, smooth, containing a furrowed nut. The 

 milky juice of this tree stains linen a dark brown. The whole 

 shrub is in a high degree poisonous, and the poison is commu- 

 nicated by touching or smelling any part of it. In forty-eight 

 hours, inflammation appears on the skin in large blotches, prin- 

 cipally on the extremities and on the glandulous parts of the 

 body ; soon after small pustules rise in the inflamed parts, and 

 fill with watery matter, attended with burning and itching. In 

 two or three days the eruptions suppurate, after which the in- 

 flammation subsides and the ulcers heal in a short time. It 

 operates, however, somewhat differently on different constitutions ; 

 and some are incapable of being poisoned with it at all. Persons 

 of irritable habits are most liable to receive it. Kalm gives 

 much the same account of the American poison-tree or Swamp 

 Sumach. An incision being made, a whitish-yellow juice, which 

 has a nauseous smell, comes out between the bark and the 

 wood ; it is noxious to some persons, but does not in the least 

 affect others. On himself it had no effect, except on a hot day, 

 when being in some perspiration, he cut a branch and carried it 

 in his hand for half an hour, smelling it now and then. It 

 produced a violent itching in his eyelids and the parts there- 

 abouts ; during a week his eyes were very red, and the eyelids 

 very stiff", but the disorder went off by washing the eyelids with 

 very cold water. The Abbe Sauvages stained linen black with 

 the juice of this tree, which it retained after a great number of 

 washings in ley. The Abbe Mazeas made trial of that of R. 

 toxicod6ndron. The instant, he says, the cloth was exposed to 

 the sun, it became the finest black he had ever seen. 



Poison Sumach, Poison-wood, or Swamp Sumach. Fl. July. 

 Clt. 1713. Tree 20 feet. 



16 R. RUFE'SCENS (Hamilt. prod. fl. ind. occ. p. 32.) rufes- 

 cent ; leaflets 5 pairs, nearly sessile, obliquely cordate, oblong, 

 acuminated, adpressedly serrated, shining above, covered with 

 rufescent tomentum beneath, with the veins parallel ; flowers 

 axillary, subcymose, tomentose. tj . S. Native of Jamaica. 

 Rufescent Sumach. Tree 20 feet. 



17 R. COMMKKSONII (Poir. suppl.5. p. 264.) leaves with 3-4 

 pairs of smooth leaflets ; petioles ? leaflets tapering to the base, 

 but blunt at the apex, somewhat mucronated and quite entire. 

 Jj . S. Native of Brazil. Like A', vcnenala or vernicifera, ex 

 Poir. R. meridionalis, Spreng. syst. 1. p. 936. 



Commerson's Sumach. Clt. 1818. Tree 30 feet. 



18 R.? PERNICIOSA (H. B. et Kunth. nov. gen. amer. 7. p. 

 10.) leaves with 7-8 pairs of leaflets, and are smooth, as well as 

 the branches , petioles naked ; leaflets on long stalks, elliptical 

 or rhomboid-ovate, quite entire, membranous. fj . S. Native 

 of New Spain, near St. Theresa and Tapecuacuilca. Flowers, 

 as well as fruit, unknown. This species resembles in its poison- 

 ous effects the R. venenata, no. 15. 



Pernicious Sumach. Shrub 3 to 4 feet. 



19 R. JUGLANDIFOLIA (Willd. in Schult. syst. 6. p. 649. but 

 not of Wall.) leaves with 11-15 pairs of oblong, acuminated, quite 

 entire, smooth (but rather pilose beneath) leaflets, which are 

 rounded on the upper edge at the base, but narrowed at the lower 

 edge; panicles axillary, much branched ; calyxes smooth. Tj . S. 

 Native of New Granada, where it is commonly called Caspi de 

 Pasto. H. B. et Kunth. nov. gen. amer. 7. p. 6. t. 003 and 

 604. Allied to R. copalKna, but the petioles are wingless. The 

 juice is very acrid and poisonous. 



Walnut-leaved Sumach. Shrub 5 to 6 feet. 



20 R. FR.AXINIFOLIA (D. Don, prod. fl. nep. p. 248.) flowers 

 hermaphrodite ; leaflets 7, lanceolate, acuminated, serrated, gla- 

 brous, shining, oblique at the base ; rachis rather terete, simple ; 

 panicle much branched, villous. fj . G. Native of Nipaul. A 

 large tree, with leaves nearly 2 feet long. 



Ash-leaved Sumach. Clt. 1820. Tree 40 feet. 



21 R. STRIA'TA (Ruiz et Pav. fl. per. 3. p. 29. t. 252.) leaves 

 pinnate, with quite entire ovate-lanceolate leaflets, downy be- 

 neath ; racemes large ; fruit striated. Tj . G. Native of Peru, 

 in the groves of Chinchao. Flowers white. 



Striped-fruited. Sumach. Tree 20 feet. 



* Leaves with the petioles more or less ninged. 



22 R. CORIA'RIA (Lin. spec. 379.) leaves with 5-7 pairs of 

 villous leaflets ; petioles naked or somewhat marginate at the 

 apex ; leaflets elliptical, bluntly and coarsely toothed. Ij . H. 

 Native of the south of Europe, on rocks in exposed situations, 

 from Portugal to Tauria. Duh. ed. nov. 2. t. 46. Wats. dend. 

 brit. 1. 136. Blackw. t. 486 Plenck. icon. t. 232. Leaves of a 

 yellowish-green colour. Flowers whitish-green, disposed in 

 terminal panicles. The branches of this tree are used instead 

 of oak bark for tanning leather, and it is said that Turkey 

 leather is all tanned with it. The leaves and seeds are used in 

 medicine, and are esteemed very restringent, stiptic, tonic, and 

 cooling. The Tripoli merchants sell the seeds at Aleppo, and 

 they are in common use there to provoke an appetite. The 

 taste of the fruit is very acid and astringent, and does not 

 possess the dangerous qualities for which some species of this 

 genus are so remarkable. 



Hide or Elm-leaved Sumach. Fl. July, Aug. Clt. 1629. 

 Tree 20 feet. 



23 R. SEMIALA TA (Mur. comm. gcett. 6. 1784. p. 27. t. 3.) 

 leaves with 5-7 pairs of leaflets ; petioles naked or somewhat 

 margined from the middle to the apex ; leaflets ovate, acumi- 

 nated, serrated, downy beneath. ^ . G. Native of the East 

 Indies and Cochin-china. R. Javanicum, Lour, cochin. 183. 

 Flowers white, bell-shaped. Leaflets clothed with rusty down 

 on the under surface. The Chinese extract an oil from the ber- 

 ries by bruising them, and boiling them in water ; they use it as 

 a varnish, which is beautiful, but does not keep its polish so 

 well as the true sort. 



Half-winged-yetioled Sumach. Clt. 1780. Shrub 6 feet. 



1 



