200 Ornamental Shrubs. 



and other eastern countries, and proves hardy in all parts 

 of the United States. 



R. semialata — Osbeck's sumach. This, though intro- 

 duced to eastern cultivation as a Japanese tree, is found to 

 be widely distributed throughout most of the Asiatic 

 countries, appearing frequently on the Himalayas and other 

 lofty mountains as well as in lower altitudes. It grows in 

 the form of a tree, twenty to thirty feet, and with some- 

 what remarkable vigor. Properly cared for, it makes a 

 shapely and symmetrical specimen, and becomes an object 

 of beauty wherever planted. As first described as seen 

 at the Arnold Arboretum, where it had been tested for 

 several years, it was represented as having compound 

 leaves some fifteen inches long, with fifteen to twenty- 

 three leaflets six or seven inches in length, dark green and 

 shining on the upper surface but pale and covered with 

 a soft, rusty pubescence beneath. The short-pediceled 

 flowers are produced in large terminal panicles, the whole 

 constituting a very showy head. The florets are pure 

 white, though the projecting anthers give a yellowish cast 

 to the cluster as a whole. Not much can be said for the 

 fruit, which is inferior to that of several of the American 

 species. The blossoms appear late in July, or in early 

 August, and the fruit holds on until late in autumn. In 

 Japan the coloring of the leaves near the close of the 

 season is very vivid, and the most brilliant orange and 

 crimson in all the forests. In the North the plant is 

 not regarded as quite as hardy as some of the native 

 species. 



