110 



ANACARDIACE.E. AV/((,s 



the base of the cell. — Shrubs or small trees ; leaves simple or pinnate ; llowers 

 small, polygamous or polygamo-(lia;cit)US, in axillary and terminal bracteute pan- 

 icles, or sometimes in racemes ur spikes. 



A widely Jistiiluited ^aMuis of iit Iwust 120 species, natives of tlie warmer oxtra-tropicnl regions 

 of bolli lioiiiibiilieie.s, ino.^t ntinnToiis ill S. Afiini. Tlieio un; 14 speciua in llio Unile.l yiulos, 

 (tillering coiisiilemlily in tlioir characters and so distril>iiled into live sections. Tho astringent 

 leaves of some species of the section Sumac (not represented in California) are e.xtensively used in 

 tanning, and the resinous jnice of others in Japan yiehls the peculiar well-known lac4uer of that 

 country, and the fruit a useful vegetable wax or tallow. 



§ 1. Flowers polygamous or di(jecious, in loose axillary panicles: fruit glabrous and 

 whitish; nut striate: leaves 3-/uliolate : juice and effluviu7n poisonous. --~To\i- 



CODENUUO.N'. 



1. R. diversiloba, Torr. & (iray. (Poison Oak. Ykah.\.) Usually soiuewliat 

 puberuleut, the slemler shrubby stem erect, or stouter and climbing by rootlets, 3 

 to 8 feet liigh : leaflets ovate, obovate, or elliptical, 1 to 3 inches long, obtuse or 

 acutish, 3-lobed or coarsely-toothed or sometimes entire, the lobes and teetli obtuse : 

 I)anicles peduncled : llowers \vhiti.sh, U huts long : IVuit 2 to 3 lines in diameter, 

 somewhat compressed. — Fl. i. L'18; Lindl. Bot. Eeg. xxxi, t. 38. /.'. lobata, 

 Hook. Fl. i. 127, t. 40. 



Fnmi Southern California to British Cohnnbiu, in this State most abundant in llio Coast 

 Kanges. It resembles It. Toxicodciulnm, binn., of tlio Atlantic States, which ditrers, liowever, 

 in its acuminate leatlcls, sharply toothed or entire, nnd nearly sessile panicles, usually more dense 

 in fruit. The species are alike very poisonous, causing a severe cutaneous eruption accompanied 

 by intense smarting and itching. The rejmted remedies are more numerous than efficacious ; 

 prominent among those in popular use is said to be the bruised leaves or a decoction of the leaves 

 of Grinddia ox "Gum-plant." 



§ 2. Floivers polygamodicecious, in short sessile scaly-bracted spikes, preceding the 

 leaves: fruit globose, villous, light red; nut smooth: leaves Sfoliolate. — 

 LOBADIUM, Eaf. 



2. R. aromatica, Ait., var. trilobata, CJray. A shrub, 2 to 5 feet high, dif- 

 fusely branched, strongly scented, more or less ])idjescent, at length nearly glabrous: 

 leaflets sessile, cuneate-'obovate or rhomboidal, 1 or 2 inches long, exceeding the 

 petiole, coarsely toothed above and often 3-lobed, the segments obtuse : spikes half 

 an inch long or less, approxinmte at the ends of the branches : flowers yellowish, a 

 line long : fruit somewhat viscid, 2 or 3 lines in dianjeter. — Watson, Bot. King 

 Exp. 53. H. trilobata, Nutt. in Torr. & Gray, Fl. i. 219. 



Throughout the State, ranging to Washington Territory and eastward to the Rocky Mountains 

 and Texas. The typical form of the Atlantic Stales has the leaves ordinarily larger and less 

 lobed, and the odor of the plant is perhaps more aromatic. The fruit is said to be pleasantly acid, 

 and is eaten by the Indians : the slender twigs are used in their choicest basket-work. 



§ 3. Flowers polygamous, on bracted pedicels in numerous short dense racemes closely 

 paniculate at the ends of the branches: sepals orbicidar, concave, colored: fruit 

 densely pubescent and very viscid, dark red : leaves simple, coriaceous. — 

 Styphonia, Benth. & Hook. (Styphonia, Nutt.) 



3. R. integrifolia, r>entli. & Hook. A dilfusely branched stout evergreen 

 shrub, 5 to 10 i'eet high : leavcis pubendcnt when young, Hoon glabrous, broadly 

 ovate, acute or obtuse, usually entire but .sonu'times si)inosely toothed, 1 .1 to 3 

 inches long, on short stout pcitioles : llowers mse colored, in close panicles I to 3 

 inches long : petals rounded, ciliate, exceeding the sepals, H lines long: fruit ovate, 

 3 lines long. — Gen. PI. i. 411). Styphonia integrifolia, Nutt. in Torr. & Gray, 

 Fl. i. 220 & Sylva, iii. 4, t. 82 ; Torrey, Paeif. li. Pep. vii. 9, t. 2. aS*. serrata, 

 Nutt. ; Torr. & Gray, Fl. 1. 220. 



From Santa Barbara to San Diego, mostly on the coast ; western Arizona, Palmer, Wheeler. 

 Along the clifTs near the sea it forms close thickets, sometimes on the seaward side presenting iJ 



