128 ANACARDIACEiE. Rhus. 



filaments distinct, sometimes alternately shorter, inserted with the petals. 

 Ovary solitaiy (of 1-5 carpels, distinct or united, but all abortive excej)t one), 

 free, or rarely adhering to the calyx, 1-celled, or with one or two abortive cells 

 of the suppressed carpels. Ovule solitary. Styles 3 or rarely 3-5, distinct 

 or combined : stigmas usually 3. Fruit indehiscent, usually drupaceous, 1- 

 seeded. Seed erect or suspended ; the testa membranaceous, often confounded 

 with the endocarp ; albumen none. Embryo more or less curved : cotyledons 

 thick and fleshy, sometimes foliaceous. — Trees or shrubs, with a resinous, 

 gummy, caustic or milky juice. Leaves simple or compound, alternate, not 

 dotted, without stipules. Flowers axillary or terminal, mostly panicled. 



1. RHUS. Linn.; Endl. gen. 5905. sumach. 



[From the Greek, rhoos, or Celtic, rhudd, red; from the color of the fruit] 

 Sepals 5, united at the base, small, persistent. Petals 5, ovate, spreading, inserted under the 

 margin of the orbicular disk. Stamens 5, equal, inserted into the disk. Styles 3, short, 

 distinct or united : stigmas obtuse or capitate. Fruit a nearly dry drupe : nut bony. Seed 

 suspended on a funiculus that rises from the base to the apex of the cell. Cotyledons fo- 

 liaceous, incumbent on the radicle. — Shrubs or small trees. Leaves simple or unequally 

 pinnate. Flowers often, by abortion, polygamous or dioecious. — All the following species 

 give out, when broken, a more or less milky acrid juice. 



§ 1. Sumac, DC. Flowers perfect, polygamous or diacious : disk entire or lobed : drupe roundish, 

 sometimes hairy : nut smooth or sulcate. Leaves unequalli/ pinnate or trifoliolate : the petiole 

 often winged : flowers panicled. 



1. Rhus typhina, Linn. Siag's-Jiorn Sumach. 



Branches and petioles densely villous ; leaflets in numerous pairs, whitish and more or less 

 pubescent beneath, oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, acutely serrate ; panicle terminal, thyrsoid ; 

 fruit densely clothed with crimson hairs. — Duham. arh. 2. t. 47; Michx. Jl. I. p. 182; Ell. 

 sk. l.p.360; Pursh, fl. l.p. 204; Torr.fl. \.p. 322; Bigel.Jl. Bost. p. 118; DC.prodr. 

 2. p. 67 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 205 ; Torr. <^ Gr. fl. N. Am. 1. p. 217. R. Canadense, 

 Mill. diet. R. viridiflora, Poir. diet. 7. p. 504 ; BC. I. c. Datisca hirta, Linn, fide Bennett 

 in Jl. Jav. rar. 1 . p. 80. 



A large shrub 8-15 feet high, or sometimes a tree 20 feet high and 4-8 inches in dia- 

 meter, with large irregular spreading branches. Leaflets in 5 - 15 pairs, 2-4 inches long; 

 common petiole 1-2 feet or more in length. Flowers greenish yellow, often polygamous or 

 dioecious. Sepals lanceolate, hairy. Petals oval-oblong, exceeding the calyx. Drupes com- 

 pressed, velvety, of a bright crimson color, and of an acrid taste. 



Rocky and gravelly hill-sides. Fl. June. Fr. September - October. Juice of the plant 

 milky and resinous. 



