FLOWERING SHRUBS 



second story building, no one having discovered the mis- 

 chievous intruder, though very different in foliage from the 

 Creeper. The leaves are three-foliate, thin, of a dull palish 

 green, smooth, but not glossy. The leaflets are broad at the 

 base, indented, hardly deep enough to be called lobed, in 

 some instances only a little waved at the margins, pointed, 

 thickened at the junction of the stem. One of the leaflets 

 is generally larger and more lozenge-shaped than the other 

 two, but they vary a good deal in size and form. Sometimes 

 there is a winged lobe on the larger and outer one. Towards 

 evening the leaves droop downwards, exposing less of the 

 surface to the air and night dews. 



The plant spreads by means of the roots, which send up 

 shoots from beneath the surface; the stem of the plant is 

 woody, thickening at the joints of the leafstalks. The 

 flowers appear near the tops of the shoots in little upright 

 panicles; they are of a pale greenish-white; the berries 

 ripen in August and are of a dead white, yellow, or dun- 

 colored. About the time of the ripening of the berries the 

 leaves begin to droop earthward and turn to beautiful tints 

 of orange, varying to brilliant scarlet, which, with the white 

 fruit, has a pretty effect. 



The Rhus contains a black dye which is indelible and 

 which no washing will remove. It is a pity that it cannot 

 be utilized. Professor John Lindley says : " An indelible 

 black dye is produced by the juice extracted from the plant," 

 and adds, " This appears to be a property in common with 

 many plants of this order. The Stagmaria verniciflua 

 furnishes the black lac which is used as a varnish in Japan. 

 The resin produced by this tree causes excoriations and 

 blisters on the skin. The Cashew-nut is another member of 

 the order, all which are more or less remarkable as dye 

 woods, or for some medicinal uses, or acridly poisonous." 



203 



