4 BULLETIN 706, U. S. DEPAETMENT OF AGKICULTUEE. 



clusters, and is covered with short reddish hairs. The distinguishing 

 characteristics of this species are the smoothness of the stalks and 

 leaf stems, together with a bluish white bloom, a powdery film similar 

 in appearance to that fomid on plums, which covers them and the 

 under side of the leaflets (PL III). White sumac grows in dry soil 

 from Nova Scotia to British Columbia, and south to Florida, Missis- 

 sippi, and Arizona. 



Staghorn suiNtAC, somctimes called Hairy sumac (Rhus liirfa, 

 L.). — ^A shrub, or small tree, with maxknmn height of 40 feet and 

 trmik diameter of 9 inches. Leaflets, dark green and nearly smooth 

 on top, pale, and more or less hairy underneath, with edges sharply 

 saw-toothed. The fruit, which grows in dense terminal clusters, is 

 thickly covered with bright crimson hairs. The distinguishing 

 characteristic of this species is the hairy growth along the stalks and 

 leaf stems (PI. IV). Staghorn sumac is found in dry and rocky soils 

 from Nova Scotia to Georgia, especially among the mountains, and 

 as far west as southern Ontario, Minnesota, Missouri, and Mississippi. 



Since poison sumac somethnes is mistaken for the more common 

 species, and its poisonous effects are usually very severe, it seems de- 

 sirable to describe it as an aid in distinguishmg poison sumac from 

 the other species. 



Poison sltmac, sometmies called Poison elder (Rhus vernix, L.).— 

 A shrub, or small tree, with maximum height of 28 feet and trunk 

 diameter of 6 inches. The leaflets are green on top and underneath, 

 with edges smooth. The fruit, which grows in loose, open clusters, 

 consists of smooth white or light gray berries. It should be noted 

 that poison sumac differs decidedly from the important species in 

 the color and cluster formation of its fruit. Furthermore, it may be 

 easily distinguished from the dwarf sumac by the absence of the 

 winged growth along the leaf stems, and from the white and stag- 

 horn sumac by its smooth-edged leaflets (PI. V). Poison smnac 

 almost invariably is found in swamps. It grows from southern 

 Ontario and near the eastern coast in the Eastern and Middle States, 

 south to Florida, and west to Minnesota, Missouri, an.d Louisiana. 



PRESENT METHODS OF GATHERING AND CURING AMERICAN SUMAC^ 



COMMON NAMES USED BY GATHERERS. 



Sumac is commonly termed by the gatherers either ''black" or 

 ''white." "Black" smnac refers to dwarf sumac (Rhus co-paUina), 

 and "white" sumac usually means white sumac (Rhus glabra), al- 

 though it is believed that tliis term is sometimes applied also to stag- 

 horn sumac (Rhus hirta). Rhus hirta is not so extensively gathered 

 as Rhus glahra. In some sections, as in eastern Virginia, only the 

 dwarf sumac is collected, while m others, such as the western part of 

 Virginia and in West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, both 

 dwarf and white sumac are gathered. 



