470 



RH U 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



RI B 



supported, the stalks become more woody, and it rises much 

 higher than when it trails on the ground. Having, in common 

 with Ivy, the quality of not rising without the support of a 

 wall, tree, or hedge, it is called in some parts of America 

 Creeping Ivy. When the stem is cut, it emits a pale brown sap 

 of a disagreeable scent, and so sharp that letters or marks 

 made upon linen with it cannot be got out again, but grow 

 blacker the more it is washed. Like the sixth species, it is 

 poisonous to some persons, but in a less degree. Kalm 

 relates, that of two sisters, one could manage the tree without 

 being affected by its venom, whilst the other felt its exhala- 

 tions as soon as she came within a yard of it, or even, when 

 she stood to windward of it, at a greater distance; that it 

 had not the least effect upon him, though he had made many 

 experiments upon himself, and once the juice squirted into 

 his eye ; but, that on another person's hand, which he had 

 covered very thick with it, the skin a few hours after became 

 as hard as a piece of tanned leather, and peeled off after- 

 wards in scales. There is a variety with a straight and 

 stout trunk, having a brownish ash-coloured bark; the leaves 

 smooth, veined, bright green above, paler underneath, pen- 

 dulous, and somewhat bent back. For the propagation of 

 this and the two following, see the sixth species. 



20. Rhus Toxicodendron; Trailing Poison-oak or Sumach. 

 Leaves ternate; leaflets petioled, angular, pubescent; stem 

 rooting. Native of many parts of North America. 



21. Rhus Aromaticum; Aromatic Sumach. Leaves ter- 

 nate; leaflets sessile, ovate-rhombed, gash-serrate, somewhat 

 hairy. It flowers in May. Native of Carolina. 



22. Rhus Suaveolens ; Sweet Sumach. Leaves ternate ; 

 leaflets sessile, wedge-rhombed, gash-serrate, smooth. It 

 flowers in May. Native of North America. 



23. Rhus Dentatum ; Toothed Sumach. Leaves ternate ; 

 leaflets obovate, mucronate-toothed, smooth ; stem rugged. 

 Native of the Cape. See the tenth species. 



24. Rhus Sinuatum; Sinuate-leaved Sumach. Leaves 

 ternate; leaflets ovate, blunt, sinuate, villose underneath. 

 Native of the Cape. See the tenth species. 



25. Rhus Cuneifolium ; Wedge-leaved Sumach. Leaves 

 ternate ; leaflets sessile, wedge-shaped, very smooth, seven- 

 toothed ; teeth mucronate. Native of the Cape. 



26. Rhus Incisum; Gash-leaved Sumach. Leaves ternate; 

 leaflets sessile, wedge-shaped, gash-pinnatifid under.neath, 

 tomentose, veined; calices tomentose. Native of the Cape. 



27. Rhus Tomentosum ; Woolly-leaved Sumach. Leaves 

 ternate ; leaflets subpetioled, rhombed, angular, white and 

 tomentose underneath. This rises with a woody stalk to the 

 height of seven or eight feet, covered with a brown bark, and 

 having many irregular branches ; the flowers come out in 

 slender bunches from the side of the branches ; they are of a 

 whitish herbaceous colour, and soon fall away. Native of 

 the Cape. See the tenth species. 



28. Rhus Villosum ; Hairy-leaved Sumach. Leaves ter- 

 nate ; leaflets obovate, quite entire, sessile, hairy on both 

 sides. This has a strong woody stalk, covered with a gray 

 bark, with many smooth branches on every side. Native of 

 the Cape. See the tenth species. 



29. Rhus Pubescens; Hairy-branched Sumach. Leaves 

 ternate ; leaflets obovate, mucronate, smooth ; branches vil- 

 lose. Native of the Cape. 



30. Rhus Viminale; Willow-leaved Sumach. Leaves ter- 

 nate ; leaflets linear-lanceolate, quite entire, smooth, atte- 

 nuated at the base, the middle one subpetioled. Native of 

 the Cape. See the tenth species. 



31. Rhus Angu-stifolium; Narrow-leaved Sumach. Leaves 

 ternate ; leaflets petioled, linear-lanceolate, quite entire, to- 



mentose underneath. It rises with a woody stalk seven or 

 eight feet high, dividing into several irregular branches, 

 covered with a dark-brown bark. Native of the Cape. See 

 the tenth species. 



32. Rhus Rosmarinifolium ; Rosemary-leaved Sumach. 

 Leaves ternate ; leaflets sessile, linear, revolute, ferruginous 

 underneath. -Native of the Cape. See the tenth species. 



33. Rhus Leevigatum; Smooth-leaved Sumach. Leaves ter- 

 nate ; leaflets sessile, lanceolate, even. Native of the Cape. 



34. Rhus Lucidum ; Shining-leaved Sumach. Leaves ter- 

 nate ; leaflets sessile, wedge-shaped, even. Native of the 

 Cape. See the tenth species. 



*** With Simple Leaves. 



35. Rhus Cotinus; Venice Sitmach. Leaves simple, obo- 

 vate or orbicular. Stern irregular, shrubby, rising to the height 

 of six or eight feet, sendingout many spreading branches cover- 

 ed with a smooth brown bark; flowers greenish, small, in ter- 

 minal compound panicles; fruit gibbous. The root is used 

 for dyeing; the leaves and young branches for black; and the 

 bark for tanning leather. Native of Austria, Switzerland, 

 Italy, and Greece, in hilly situations. This is propagated by 

 layers in autumn; by the autumn following, these will have 

 taken root, when they may be taken off, and transplanted 

 into a nursery ; there let them grow a year or two to acquire 

 strength, and then plant them out where they are to remain. 

 It is so hardy a shrub as not to be injured by the frost of our 

 winters, and is principally cultivated in our plantations for 

 the very singular and ornamental appearance of its elongated 

 feathery fruitstalks. 



36. Rhus Atrutn. Leaves simple, ovate-oblong; flowers 

 polygamous. Native of New Caledonia. 



Ribes: a genus of the class Pentandria, order Monogynia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth one-leafed, half 

 five-cleft, vcntricose ; segments oblong, concave, coloured, 

 reflex, permanent. Corolla: petals five, small, obtuse, erect, 

 growing to the margin of the calix. Stamina: filamenta five, 

 subulate, erect, inserted into the rim of the calix; antherse in- 

 cumbent, compressed, opening at the margin. Pistil: ger- 

 men roundish, inferior; style bifid; stigmas obtuse. Peri- 

 carp : berry globular, umbilicated, one-celled ; receptacles 

 two, lateral, opposite, longitudinal. Seeds : very many, 

 roundish, somewhat compressed. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. 

 Calix: superior, tubular, five-cleft. Petals: five, inserted, 

 with the stamina, into the calix. Style: bifid. Berry: 



many-seeded, inferior. The species are, 



* Unarmed: Ribesia or Currants. 



1. Ribes Rubrum; Common Currant. Racemes smooth, 

 nodding ; flowers Saltish ; petals obcordate ; leaves obtusely 

 five-lobed; stem erect; branches smooth. Native of Europe, 

 chiefly in the hedges and woods of the northern parts, flow- 

 ering in May. It grows wild in the northern parts of Eng- 

 land, as in Yorkshire, Durham, and Westmoreland, on the 

 banks of the Tees, also in Scotland, as in the Isle of Isla ; 

 but in most parts of Great Britain it occurs only in hedges 

 accidentally. It has been long cultivated in our'gaidens, 

 and greatly improved. It is very apt to be infested with the 

 Apis ribes, in which case the green leaves become red, 

 pitted, and puckered. At present we have the following 

 varieties : The common sort, with small red fruit : the 

 same, with white fruit; another with pale fruit, commonly 

 called the Champaign Currant, differing only in being of a 

 pale red or flesh colour; the taste is the same, but the colour 

 makes a variety for the table. But since the White and Red 

 Dutch Currants have been introduced, and become common, 

 many of the old sorts have been almost banished from our 

 English gardens. A variety with blotched leaves is kept in 



