DICOTYLEDONOUS PLANTS 



ANACARDIA'CE^. POISON OAK FAMILY 



101 



Shrubs or trees with leaves alternate, without stipules, 

 either simple or compound. Flowers small, regular. Stamens 

 inserted on the inner margin of the disk. Ovary 1-celled, 

 1-ovuled. Styles often 3. Fruit a small drupe. 



RHUS, Sumac, Poison Oak 



Sepals and petals (4-9) generally 5. Stamens as many 

 or twice as many. Sterile and fertile flowers often mixed in 

 the clusters. Only the first species is poisonous. 



a. R. diversuVba T. & G. POISON OAK. Stems shrubby or 

 climbing by rootlets. Leaves, compound with 3 lea/lets, which are 

 3-lobed and coarsely toothed or entire. Flowers yellowish white, fra- 

 grant, iu loose panicles in the axils of the leaves. Fruit a round, 

 white, nerved, smooth berry. This is most poisonous in the spring. 

 It generally forms thickets. The foliage turns red in the fall. 



b. R. triloba'ta Nutt. SQUAW BUSH, INDIAN LEMONADE. An 

 aromatic shrub with numerous, spreading branches. Leaves some- 

 what variable, with 3 leaflets, the middle one 3-lobed and toothed, 

 much larger than the 2 side leaflets, which are generally simple 

 and crenate. Flowers greenish, in short spikes, which precede the 

 leaves. Fruit a red berry, pleasantly acid. Seeds white and smooth. 

 Widely distributed, but not especially common. 



c. R. integrifo'lia Benth. & Hook. Shrub or small tree. Leaves 

 many, evergreen, thick, oval, entire or with spiny teeth, dark green 

 and glossy above, sometimes compound. Flowers rose-color, in clus- 

 tered spikes-. Fruit covered with an acid, viscid coat; the berry about 

 in. long. This is found in southern California near the sea. 



d. R. ova'ta Wats. Similar to the above, but with larger, thin- 

 ner leaves, which are ovate or almost heart-shaped ; fruit having the 

 viscid coat crusted with a white powder. This is found in the moun- 

 tains of southern California. 



c. R. lauri'na Nutt. Shrub with oblong-lanceolate, entire leaves 

 on rather long petioles. Flowers many in a terminal panicle, small, 

 white. Fruit smooth, whitish, beaked by a stout style. This grows in 

 southern California near the coast. 



Schi'nus molle L. PEPPER TREE. This is extensively cultivated. 

 It is an evergreen tree, with graceful, drooping branches and com- 

 pound leaves, with 20 or more pairs of narrow leaflets. The flowers 



