SUMAC FAMILY 



;_ (A nacardiaceoe) 



Shrubs or trees, with resinous or milky juice, and usually 

 alternate leaves. Flowers small and mainly regular. 



LEMONADE BERRY (Rhus integrifolia, B. & H.). Flowers 

 small, pink or white, in dense terminal clusters 1 to 2 inches 

 long, sterile and fertile flowers often mixed together. Leaves 

 evergreen, thick, leathery, generally entire, an inch or two 

 long. A stout shrub 3 to 6 feet high, blooming from February 

 to May, on seashore bluffs and to some extent on the foothills 

 farther inland, from Santa Barbara to Lower California. 



The conspicuous fruit of the Lemonade Berry is responsible 

 for the common name. It is a flat, reddish drupe or berry, 

 something less than | inch across, very sticky and sour. It 

 is very abundant on the bushes in summer, and if soaked for a 

 few minutes in water communicates its acidity to the liquid 

 making a very pleasant drink, well known to Indians and 

 Mexicans. The wood of the plant is hard and red within, 

 whence the name "Mahogany" sometimes given it. 



A closely related species is R. orata, Wats., whose range is 



imore inland than R. integrifolia. The fruit is rather smaller. 

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