4'i Ho TOR'S AMERICAN WOODS. 



HABITAT. Canada and north-eastern United States, westward to 

 Minnesota and reaching its southern-most limit along the Alleganies, 

 growing in stony sandy soil, particularly on open hill-sides, where we 

 often find it in extensive thickets. 



PHYSICAL PROPERTIES. Wood light, soft, brittle, rather close- 

 grained, of a markedly greenish and yellowish color and somewhat 

 aromatic. The sap-wood which occupies scarcely one annual ring is 

 nearly white next the hark, and of a handsome gold and orange color 

 farther in. When freshly worked the wood is very beautiful, but in 

 time loses in part the brightness of its colors. Specific Gravity, 0.4357; 

 Percentage of Ash, 0.50; Relative Approximate Fuel Value, 0.4335; 

 Weic/lit of a Cubic Foot in Pound*, 27.15. 



USES. Timber cannot be obtained in large enough pieces to be of 

 great utility. It is occasionally used as choice pieces for inlaying cabinet- 

 work, where it finishes nicely and has a beautiful effect. The wood is 

 said sometimes to be used in dyeing. The bark and leaves as well as the 

 fruit are used for the same purpose. 



MEDICINAL PROPERTIES. None are officially recognized of this 

 species, although some are ascribed to the closely allied Smooth Sumach 

 (It. (jlabra). Of that the berries are astringent and refrigerant, a 

 decoction or diluted fluid extract of which especially in combination 

 with the chlorate of potassium affords an effective and pleasant gargle 

 in inflammation and ulceration of the throat.* 



The root has been found efficacious in fevers. f 



ORDER SAPINDACE^E : SOAPBEKKY FAMILY. 



Leaves simple or compound. Flmrers poly petal cms, often irregular and mostly 

 symmetrical: sepals aud petals each -4-5, imbricated in the bud, the petals inserted 

 with the 5-10 stamens on a perigyuous or hypogeuous disk; ovary 2-8-celled and 

 lobed, usually l-'3 ovules in each cell, embryo mostly convoluted; no albumen. 

 Fruit a membranous, inflated pod, a leathery thick subspherical pod with nut-like 

 seeds, or a winged samara. 



OKNTTS ;ES( 1 ULTIS, L. 



Lear?*, opposite, digitately compound, destitute of stipules; leaflets serrate and 

 straight-veined. Flnircr* paniculate, terminal, unsymmet rical, irregular, often 

 polygamous; pedicels jointed; calyx tubular, 5-toothed, often rather gibbous at the 

 basef corrolla irregular, 4 or sometimes 5-petaled, nearly hypogenous; stamens 6-8, 

 usually 7, distinct and often unequal, with long and slender filaments; style 1, fili- 

 form; ovary ) celled, with 2 ovules in each cell, only one of which, or one in each 

 cell comes to maturity. Ffuil roundish, coriaceous, dehiscent, 2 8 valved, contain- 

 ino-'l :', lar"-e smooth, leathery and shining seeds, each with a large, pale scar; 

 cotyledons thick, bulky and inseparable, rich in starch, but of bitter taste, remaining 

 underground in germination. 



(A<'M-n/,nx is a Latin name, but in ancient times applied to a kind of oak.) 



* /7 ,S' J >;*)>( n.*dt or if, Ifithed., p. 1-44. 



tG. H. Emerson's 7W* ,nl Mrufi* of Max*achnseUs. 



