3io 



Minnesota Plant Life. 



Sumacs and poison-elders. The sumacs include seven va- 

 rieties and are met with pretty commonly throughout the state. 

 With one exception the fragrant sumac they are abundant. 

 They are shrubs with pinnate leaves and invite attention by 

 their large panicles of small stone-fruits, bright red in color in 

 some of the varieties, and gray or white in others. The innoc- 

 uous varieties of sumac, of 

 which there are four or five 

 in the state, may be recog- 

 nized when in fruit by the 

 massive red clusters. The 

 leaves are made up of from 

 nine to thirty one leaflets, 

 except in the fragrant su- 

 mac, which bears three- 

 leafleted leaves and much 

 smaller clusters of stone- 

 fruits. The poisonous va- 

 rieties may be avoided by 

 noting their gray or white 

 stone-fruits. There are two 

 of these, the poison-elder 

 (poison-sumac, poison-dog- 

 wood, poison-ash or poison- 

 oak) and the poison-ivy, 

 both extremely unpleasant 

 to come in contact with. 

 The poison-elder grows for 

 the most part in swamps 

 and is pretty abundant 

 among tamarack through- 

 out the northern and central 



FIG. 151. Poison-sumac. After Chesnut. F. B. 86, portions of the State It 

 U. S. Dept. Ag. . ' 



becomes more rare in the 



southern and western districts. When in fruit it is easily rec- 

 ognized by the production of panicled currant-bunch-shaped 

 clusters of gray stone-fruits. The leaves are composed of about 

 seven leaflets arranged in pinnate fashion. From the shape of 

 its leaves this plant is also called the poison-ash, and it is known 



