138 FOUNDATIONS OF BOTANY 



above, pale and downy beneath. Panicle often large and spreading ; 

 flowers somewhat monoecious. Fruit red, hairy, acid. Open woods.* 



2. R. typhina, L. STAGHORN SUMAC. A small tree, 20-40 ft. 

 high; branches and petioles closely velvety-hairy. Leaves odd-pin- 

 nate, leaflets 17-27, lanceolate-oblong, taper-pointed at the apex, 

 very obtuse at the base, sharply serrate, smooth above, pale and 

 downy beneath. Flowers somewhat monoecious, in dense terminal 

 panicles. Fruit red, with crimson hairs. Dry hillsides N". and E.* 



3. R. Toxicodendron, L. POISON VINE, POISON IVY, MERCURY, 

 BLACK MERCURY. Stem a woody vine climbing high by aerial 

 rootlets, or sometimes short and erect. Leaves petioled, of 3 leaflets, 

 downy; leaflets ovate or oval, taper-pointed, entire or somewhat 

 dentate, often angled or lobed. Flowers dioecious, in loose axillary 

 panicles. Fruit nearly white, smooth. Common in open woods and 

 along fences. Plant poisonous to the touch.* 



4. R. venenata, L. POISON SUMAC, POISON DOGWOOD. A very 

 smooth shrub with gray bark, 6-18 ft. high. Leaves large and 

 glossy, with 7-13 obovate-oblong, entire leaflets. Flower-clusters 

 loosely-flowered, axillary panicles. Fruit smooth, greenish-yellow. 

 Swamps and wet openings in woods N. and E. Plant more poison- 

 ous than the preceding species, 



55. AQUIFOLIACE^E. HOLLY FAMILY. 



Trees or shrubs. Leaves simple, alternate, petioled ; stip- 

 ules small or wanting. Flowers small, greenish, clustered 

 or solitary in the axils, usually dioecious. Calyx 4-9-parted. 

 Petals 4-9, somewhat united at the base. Stamens inserted 

 in the tube of the corolla and alternate with its lobes. Ovary 

 free, 4-9-celled, with a single ovule in each cell. Fruit a 

 berry-like stone-fruit, 4-9-seeded.* 



ILEX, L. 



Small trees or shrubs. Leaves usually leathery, often per- 

 sistent and evergreen ; stipules minute. Flowers axillary, 

 4-9-parted, the fertile often solitary and the staminate clus- 

 tered. Fruit a stone-fruit with 4-9 nutlets.* 



1. I. opaca, Ait. HOLLY. Trees with smooth, light-colored bark, 

 and hard, very white wood ; young twigs downy. Leaves leathery, 

 oval or ovate, margin prickly-toothed, dark green and shining 



