Trees of New York State 279 



ANACARDIACEAE 



Rhus typhina L. [Rhus hirta (L.) Sudw. ; Datisca hirta L.] 



Staghorn Sumach 



Habit — A small tree 25-30 feet in height with a trunk diameter of 4-8 inches, 

 occasionally 40 feet tall A\'ith a trunk a foot in diameter, more often 

 shrubby, spreading by means of underground shoots and forming extensive 

 thickets. In the aborescent form, the bole is short and often inclined, and 

 bears a low flat crown consisting of stout, ascending, more or less con- 

 torted, irregular branches. 



Leaves — Alternate, odd-pinnately compound, l%-2 feet long, consisting of 

 1]-31 nearly sessile leaflets arranged in pairs along a stout, hairy, red- 

 dened rachis. Leaflets oblong, 2-5 inches long, acute at the apex, rounded 

 or slightly cordate at the base, remotely and sharply serrate, at maturity 

 dull dark green and quite glabrous above, paler and glabrous below aside 

 from the midrib. 



Plowers — Appearing in June or July after the leaves, dioecious (by abor- 

 tion), yellowish green, borne on slender, bracteolate pedicels in dense, ter- 

 minal jianicles 5-12 inches long, the staminate the larger and more open. 

 Calyx 5-lobed, the lobes lanceolate, acute, woolly A\'ithout, longest in the 

 pistillate flower. Petals 5, strap-shaped, yello\vish green and reflexed at 

 anthesis in the staminate flower, green, narrower, thickened at the apex 

 and erect in the pistillate flower. Stamens 5, inserted on the margin of 

 the red disk, exserted, the anthers bright orange. Pistil consisting of an 

 ovoid, pubescent ovary, 3 short, spreading styles and a similar number of 

 capitate stigmas. 



Fruit — A depressed-globular or hemi-spherical drupe, about % of an inch in 

 diameter, densely covered with crimson acid hairs, borne in dense panicles 

 which persist throughout the winter. Pit somewhat reniform, orange- 

 bro'^^'n, smooth. 



Winter characters — Twigs verj- stout, densely pubescent with olive-brown to 

 nearly black hairs, exuding a milky juice when broken, usually winter- 

 killing through several nodes. Lenticels orange-colored and conspicuous. 

 Pith large, orange-colored, homogeneous. Terminal bud absent. Lateral 

 buds conical, obtuse, protected by a dense, pale brown tomentum, nearly 

 surrounded by the leaf-scar. Mature bark dark bro^vn, dotted with hori- 

 zontally elongated lenticels, occasionally with small, superficial scales. 



Habitat — A "weed" tree found on a variety of soils and sites along fences 

 and highways, in pastures, and on talus slopes and cliffs, usually in dry 

 situations, often forming copses of mde extent. 



Range — Xew Brunswick westward through southern Canada to Minnesota, 

 south to Georgia and Alabama. Zones A, B, and C. 



Uses — Of little commercial value. Wood light, soft, golden yellow tinged 

 ■R-ith green, with paler sapAvood. Occasionally used for picture frames and 

 nicknacks. This species is sometimes propagated ornamentally because of 

 its showy autumal foliage and fruits, and grotesque habit. Several hor- 

 tricultural varieties have been evolved. 



