Handbook of Teees of the Noethebn- States and Canada. 309 



The Dwarf Sumach, as its name implies, is 

 a small tree at best and much more commonly 

 a shrub than a tree; still it sometimes attains 

 the height of 25 or 30 ft. with trunk 8 or 10 

 in. in diameter. This is generally more or less 

 leaning and divided into a few large branches, 

 ultimately forming a wide spreading top. It 

 is an abundant species covering dry gravelly 

 slopes often to the exclusion of nearly every- 

 thing else. Its singular and beautiful leaves, 

 with rachises winged between the leaflets, give 

 it an individuality at once recognizable, and 

 its bunches of crimson fruit add not a little 

 to its ornamental value. In autumn it is 

 brilliant in various tints of red and purple. 



The wood is ligtit, a cubic foot weighing 

 32,8(1 lbs,, soft and of a greenish brown color 

 with lighter sap-wood. The bark and leaves 

 are rich in tannin and the fruit similar in 

 properties to that of the Stag-horn Sumach. 



Lriii-ts deciduous, pinnate, G-,S in, long, with 

 [iiilicsci'nt petiole and raehis, the latter winged 

 Ijcfwi'cn the leaflets ; leaflets ovate-lanceolate to 

 oblong, subsesslle, entire or remotely serrate 

 towards the apex, acute or acuminate, lustrous 

 dark green above, paler and pubescent beneath. 

 Flowers in midsummer, about % in, across, yellow- 

 green, in short dense pubescent terminal panicles, 

 4-G in. long : the pistillate considerably smaller. 

 Fniit in compact erect or nodding clusters, often 

 persisting on the branches throu.gh the entire 

 winter : drupe about V<^ in. across, compresserl, 

 crimson, covered with short ar'irl hairs : stone 

 smooth. 



Var. laiiccolata. Gray, is a small tree of eastern 

 Te.xas with narrower and more falcate leaflets and 

 larTcr bunches of flowers and fruit. 



Var. Iciicautlia (.Tacfi.l do r. is another form 

 found in Texas (near New Braunfels) with white 

 flowers. 



1. A. W., XII, 279, 



