250 NATURAL HISTORY. 



inclosed in a pericarp, about the size of a hazel-nut ; the 

 kernels, used as almonds, are pale green and oily ; the 

 envelops is reddish-colored, h. 



The next relative is 



The Mastic Tree (Pistacio lentiscus), and furnishes 

 the resinous substance called frankincense and gum mas- 

 tic, which exude in drops from its trunk. Closely related 

 to it also is 



The Turpentine Tree, grows in the Island of Cyprus 

 and Italy, and is valuable for the excellence of its gum, 

 which is known as Venice Turpentine, h. 



The Smoke Plant or Venitian Sumach (Rhus cot- 

 inus), Nuttall, is chiefly a native of tropical regions, 

 represented in the United States by the genus Rhus 

 only. It is a shrub with leaves rather oblong than oval, 

 veined like network (reticulated) and furnished with 

 footstalks ; the flowers small and of a greenish -yellow, 

 hang in panicles.* After blooming, the unfruitful foot- 

 stalks become long, diffuse, and feathery, showing in the 

 distance as if the plant were enveloped in a cloud of 

 smoke. Sometimes it grows wild, but is often planted 

 in gardens, its singular appearance rendering it quite 

 ornamental. In Italy the plant is used for tanning, h. 



TWENTY-SIXTH FAMILY. PAPILIONACE^E. (PULSE 

 FAMILY)! are mostly plants or shrubs seldom trees 

 which furnish a vegetable diet for man or food for ani- 

 mals. The flowers are of rather singular structure, 



* Found wild in Arkansas, where it grows to a height of six feet. 

 There are ninety-five species of the anacardiaceae. The Cashew Nut 

 is the product of a small tree of both ladies, and belongs to the Anacar- 

 diaceae. Tr. 



J" Belonging to the Order Leguminosse, which is one of the most 

 extensive and important. It yields to medicine and the arts its full pro- 

 portion of the substances derived from the vegetable kingdom. 



