PLANTS GROWING IN DRY SOIL. 261 



Its leaves might readily be mistaken for those of a young 

 maple tree, while the blossoms, or beautiful fruit, protest loudly 

 against such an error. 



V.prunifolium^ black-haw, or stag-bush, has almost identical 

 blossoms with the above which grow in compound, sessile 

 cymes ; and dark blue glacous fruit, quite sweet and edible. 

 The leaves are bluntly oval or pointed, glossy and serrated. 

 It is a tall shrub from eight to twelve feet high, of hard red- 

 ish-brown wood and is found blossoming early in the season 

 from Connecticut to Florida and westward to Texas. 



V, alnifolium, page 188, Plate XCIX. V. Opulics, page 118. 



POISON IVY. POISON OAK. 



Rhus radicans. 



Flowers: small; axillary; perfect; growing in loose panicles. Fruil : clus- 

 tered ; a small whitish berry. Leaves ; divided into three ovate leaflets ; 

 serrated ; sometimes downy underneath. Stejn : climbing by means of rootlets. 



It is no mark of genius to avoid poison ivy after one has had 

 a bad case of poisoning ; but it is a wise precaution to acquaint 

 oneself with the plant and then to be content to admire it from 

 a distance. Like many poisonous plants it is not equally in- 

 jurious to all persons or forms of life. The goat, the mule 

 and the horse have an especial fondness for eating it; and its 

 seeds are distributed through the agency of crows and wood- 

 peckers which relish them keenly. It is thought to be the least 

 harmful when the full blaze of the sun is shining on the leaves. 



In almost any kind of soil it will thrive, and it has some 

 appreciation of decorative effects. It covers old stone walls, 

 clumps of trees, traverses the open meadows, and finds its way 

 to the roadside banks. Jack Frost is its greatest enemy, and 

 the first cool days of autumn change its green leaves to many 

 tints of yellow and crimson. 



R. Toxicodendron is peculiar to the Southern states. Its lobed 

 leaflets are very pubescent. 



