ANACARDIACE^. 159 



clothed, at least when young, with acid glandular hairs; the putamen 

 smooth. — Leaves pinnate. 

 § 3. Toxicodendron, Tourn. — Flowers polygamo-dioecious, in loose and 

 slender axillary panicles. Drupes globular, glabrous, white, or dun- 

 colored ; the putamen striate or ridged. — Leaves pinnate or trifoliolate. 

 § 4. LoBADiUM, Raf. (Turpinia, Raf. Schmalzia, Dfsv.) — Flowers po- 

 lygamo-dicEcious, in short ament-like spikes, rather preceding the leaves, 

 each subtended by a scale-like bract. Disk deeply five-lobed, conspicu- 

 ous. Drupes ovoid-lenticular, hairy, acid, reddish. — Leaves trifoliolate. 

 Note. If R. Cotinus has incumbent cotyledons, as figured in Maout's 

 excellent Alias Elementaire de Bolanique, p. 139, this with the other char- 

 acters should suffice for the restoration of the Tournefortian genus Cotmus. 

 I doubt if this is really the case, but possess no fruit quite perfect enough 

 to settle the point. 



Properties. These are very similar in all our subgenera, except Toxi- 

 codendron. The bark and the bruised foliage are aromatic or strong-scented 

 and astringent. Those of the Sumachs abound in tannic acid, and are used 

 in tanning morocco leather. The bark of R. Cotinus and of R. Coriaria 

 has been used as a febrifugal tonic. The wood is orange-colored and yields 

 a dye, while the bark is employed as a mordant. The fruit of all the Su- 

 machs, especially of R. typhina and R. glabra, is pleasantly but sharply 

 acid ; the acidity, which principally resides in the hairs or glands of the sur- 

 face, is said to be owing to bimalate of lime. The bark and young wood 

 yield when wounded a viscous or resinous and usually milky juice, which 

 immediately turns yellowish, and finally brown, on exposure to the air. R. 

 Copallina was thought to yield one of the resins known under the name of 

 Gum Copal, but this is not the case. None of the Sumachs appear to be 

 poisonous. It is probably through some mistake that this quality has been 

 attributed to R. pumila, Michx., which belongs to the section Sumac as 

 characterized above. But in the section Toxicodendron, not only the 

 juice, but even the effluvium spontaneously exhaled under the influence of 

 a hot sun, is well known to be extremely venomous to many people, 

 although others may handle the plants with impunity. Our two poison- 

 ous species, which abound throughout the United States, are R. Toxicoden- 

 dron (the Poison Vine, Poison Oak, or Poison Ivy), and R. venenata (the 

 Poison Sumach, or Poison-Tree, inappropriately termed Poison Dogwood 

 or Poison Elder). The effects of the poison, which commence several 

 hours after exposure, are violent itching, with tumefactit)n of the affected 

 parts, especially of the face, followed by burning pain, fever, and a vesicular 

 eruption. These symptoms reach their height on the fourth or fifth day, 

 and the cuticle desquamates as the pain and swelling subside. The juice 

 of these plants blackens on exposure to the air, and forms an indelible ink, 

 and a natural dark varnish. The brilliant black varnish of Japan is the juice 

 of R. vernicifera, a species nearly allied to our R. venenata, with which it 

 was confounded by Linnajus, and endowed with similar venomous properties. 



