74 ADDISONIA 
the leaflets in the variety dissecta. It was discovered in 1846 
by Truman Rickard (afterward Dr. Rickard), near Hanover, New 
Hampshire. 
This variety, in the collections of the New York Botanical 
Garden, forms a broad spreading shrub up to eight feet tall and 
about as wide. Planted in masses it adds a striking feature to the 
landscape, the feathery foliage giving it a graceful appearance, 
not noted in the species, which often grows into a small tree thirty 
or forty feet high. In a wild state Rhus hirta usually occurs on 
hillsides, preferring a dry soil, although sometimes growing on the 
borders of swamps. In cultivation, like other hardy members of 
the genus, it flourishes in dry soil, and both the species and variety 
are excellently adapted to such situations. The species, when old, 
is bare of foliage below, and is better suited therefore for the rear 
portions of decorative plantings, while the variety, more compact 
and of dwarfer habit, is adapted for use in front of the species 
or groups of other taller growing shrubs and trees. ‘The rich green 
of its summer foliage, persisting even throughout long dry spells, 
offers a striking contrast, during late summer and early autumn, 
to the warm color of its fruit; and its value as a decorative shrub 
is further enhanced by its autumn mantle of vivid and glowing 
color. 
GrorcE V. Nasu. 
