TREES AND SHRUBS 



persistent, hairy, lobes acute, shorter than petals, fused to hypogynous disk; 

 Petals 5, yellow-green, sometimes tinged red, strap-shaped, inserted under 

 margin of disk, deciduous; Stamens .5, alternate with petals, on margin of 

 disk; filaments subulate, anthers ovoid, orange; Females— Calyx lobes nearly 

 as long as petals ; Petals green, narrow, acuminate, erect ; Ovary ovoid, 

 1 -celled, styles 3, connate at base, stigmas capitate; Inflorescence a terminal 

 thyrsoid panicle, males 8-12 ins. long; females £-2 ins.; Fruit a dry drupe, 

 in dense erect panicles 6-8 ins. long, 2-3 ins. wide, covered with crimson- 

 purple tomentum. 



Leaves alternate, imparipinnate, 16-24 ins. long, leaflets 11-31, oblong- 

 lanceolate, acute, serrate, rarely lacinate, nearly sessile, dark green above, 

 paler beneath, glabrous, pairs near middle 2-6 ins. long, 1-1^ in. wide; 

 petioles hairy. Autumn tints scarlet, crimson, purple, orange. 



A deciduous shrub or small tree, 10-30 ft. ; Branches stout, tortuous, 

 velvety hairy ; Twigs pilose, stout, terete, olive-brown ; Bark thin, brown, 

 smooth ; Buds conical, very short, blunt, hairy ; Wood light, brittle, soft, 

 coarse-grained, orange streaked with green ; tree abounds in white viscid 

 juice, turning black on exposure to air. 



Introduced from U.S.A., 1629. Also called Vinegar Tree. 



POISON SUMACH, Rhus venenata. 



Gardens. The autumn foliage is of " unparalleled splendour." The 

 plant easily bleeds when bruised, and the sap is extremely poisonous and 

 irritating to the skin. July. 



Flowers yellow-green, polygamous, minute, in a loose, slender, axillary 

 panicle ; pubescent, bracteate, bracteolate, bibracteolate near middle ; Calyx- 

 lobes acute, erect, reflexed at apex ; Petals 3 times length of calyx-lobes ; 

 Stamens twice as long as petals in males, filaments slender, anthers large, 

 orange ; Ovary ovoid-globose ; styles short, spreading, stigmas capitate ; 

 Fruit drupaceous, ovate, acute, glabrous, white, sometimes tinged yellow ; 



stone thin, grooved. 



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