FLOWERING SHRUBS 
second story building, no one having discovered the mis- 
chievous intruder, though very different in foliage from the 
Creeper. The leaves are three-foliate, thin, of a dull palish 
green, smooth, but not glossy. The leaflets are broad at the 
base, indented, hardly deep enough to be called lobed, in 
some instances only a little waved at the margins, pointed, 
thickened at the junction of the stem. One of the leaflets 
is generally larger and more lozenge-shaped than the other 
two, but they vary a good deal in size and form. Sometimes 
there is a winged lobe on the larger and outer one. Towards 
evening the leaves droop downwards, exposing less of the 
surface to the air and night dews. 
The plant spreads by means of the roots, which send up 
shoots from beneath the surface; the stem of the plant is 
woody, thickening at the joints of the leafstalks. The 
flowers appear near the tops of the shoots in little upright 
panicles; they are of a pale greenish-white; the berries 
ripen in August and are of a dead white, yellow, or dun- 
colored. About the time of the ripening of the berries the 
leaves begin to droop earthward and turn to beautiful tints 
of orange, varying to brilliant scarlet, which, with the white 
fruit, has a pretty effect. 
The Rhus contains a black dye which is indelible and 
which no washing will remove. It is a pity that it cannot 
be utilized. Professor John Lindley says: “An indelible 
black dye is produced by the juice extracted from the plant,” 
and adds, “ This appears to be a property in common with 
many plants of this order. The Stagmaria verniciflua 
furnishes the black lac which is used as a varnish in Japan. 
The resin produced by this tree causes excoriations and 
blisters on the skin. The Cashew-nut is another member of 
the order, all which are more or less remarkable as dye 
woods, or for some medicinal uses, or acridly poisonous.” 
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