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A few simple rules can easily be remembered, which 

 will aid those who are not acquainted with our poisonous 

 plants in detecting them, and at the same time prevent 

 needless fear of the many beautiful flowers and berries 

 common throughout the county. 



Never put any portion of any plant in the mouth 

 unless it is certainly known to be wholesome. 



Have no hesitation in handling any plant that has 

 beautiful or attractive flowers, berries, or fruit of any 

 kind ; for the two poisonous native plants have incon- 

 spicuous greenish flowers, mostly under the leaves, and, 

 later, small bluish white berries close to the branches or 

 hanging from them. 



Beware of gorgeous red and yellow autumnal leaves 

 on shrubs and climbing plants which are not known to 

 be harmless. Our two poisonous native plants display 

 the most brilliant autumnal colors of any species in our 

 woods and by-ways. 



The poisonous sumach resembles a group of young 

 ash trees. 



The poisonous ivy resembles the harmless woodbine. 

 Its leaves, however, have but three leaflets while those 

 of the woodbine have five. 



There are no cultivated plants in our gardens poison- 

 ous to handle, so far as I am aware, except, perhaps, the 

 little primula, commonly grown as a window plant in 

 winter, whose sharp hairs on the stems and leaves often 

 irritate the delicate portions of the skin of the hands 

 and wrists of those who brush against the plants or 

 gather the flowers. 



A near relative of the cornuses is the tupelo (Nyssa 

 sylvatica), a tree usually found in wet places, although 

 sometimes on hillsides ; yet, even then, indicating that 



