SUMAC. MANGLA (Rhus laurina, Nutt.). Flowers very 

 small, white, in showy terminal panicles; leaves thin but leath- 

 ery, entire, 3 to 4 inches long on rather long petioles. Seed 

 vessels very small, white and wax-coated. An erect, ever- 

 green shrub, 6 to 15 feet high, with a fragrance of bitter al- 

 monds; blooming from June to August and very common in 

 the valleys, foothills, and chaparral belt of Southern California. 



It is always a surprise to the Easterner to be told that 

 this handsome, rather stately shrub with its simple laurel- 

 like leaves is a sumac, for the sumacs of the Atlantic slope are 

 quite different looking because of their pinnate foliage. Yet 

 the Pacific Coast plant is a true cousin of those. 



The wood of both Rhus laurina and R. integrifolia, is hard 

 and red-hearted, and the larger specimens are often cut up 

 into posts for stringing wire fences upon. Spanish-speaking 

 Californians call both species Mangla, perhaps because of the 

 sticky resinous juice the Spanish word strictly meaning the 

 gum that exudes from the European Rockrose. 



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