76 Sumach (Anacardiacece) 



Fig. 25. (5) Poison Ivy. Poison Oak. R. rddicans, L. 

 ( R. toxicodcndron, L.) 



Flowers, small, greenish, in loose clusters from the axils 

 of the leaves, the staminate and pistillate forms on 

 different plants. June. 



Leaflets, three, edge entire, or variously sharp-notched, 

 mostly pointed, and somewhat downy beneath. 



Fruit, small, rounded, pale brown or whitish, smooth. 

 Stone, lined. September. 



Found, widely distributed in open grounds and among 

 trees, along walls and fences. 



A shrub that is less poisonous than the Poison Su- 

 mach, but more dreaded because the latter is confined to 

 swampy grounds, while the Poison Ivy is found every- 

 where. It takes all positions ; sometimes it is erect (one 

 to three feet high), often it is prostrate and trailing: 

 oftenest, perhaps, it is climbing. In its climbing form 

 it covers the posts of fences, the trunks and branches of 

 trees, stone walls clinging tenaciously wherever it goes 

 by multitudes of thread-like rootlets, and sometimes 

 reaching a distance of forty or even fifty feet, with a stem 

 from two to five or six inches in diameter. At times it 

 so closely covers its growing support as to smother it. 

 Its poisonous qualities are the same in kind as those of 

 the Poison Sumach. 



Fig. 26. (6) Sweet Sumach. R. aromdtica, Ait. 

 ( R. Canadtnsis, Marsh.) 



Flowers, small, yellowish, in small spikes or heads, un- 

 folding before the leaves. 



Leaflets, three, one to three inches long, the end one 

 sometimes three-cleft, edge unequally round-toothed. 



