ANACARDIACE—SUMACH FAMILY 
VELVET SUMACH. STAGHORN SUMACH 
Rhits hirta—Rhis thphina 
Rhus is by some referred to a Celtic word meaning red; others 
derive it from the Greek word meaning run, because the roots 
spread underground to a considerable distance from the trunk ; 
still others refer it to a Greek word which indicates its value 
medicinally. 7yfAina giant, this being the largest of the North 
American species. ///r/a, hairy. Sumach is derived from Simaq 
the Arabic name of the plant. 
A small tree with a slender and slightly leaning trunk, with stout 
spreading and often contorted branches which form a flat head; 
oftener it is a shrub spreading by suckers into thickets along fences 
and in neglected fields. Roots fleshy ; juice milky and viscid, turn- 
ing black when exposed to the air. Small branches and young stems 
pithy. Short-lived. Prefers calcareous soil. 
Bark.—Smooth, dark brown, sometimes scaly. Branchlets stout, 
clumsy, coated with long, soft, pink hairs, which change to green and 
then brown. Branchlets do not become smooth until at least three 
years old; in their second year are marked with many lenticels. 
Bark rich in tannin. 
IVood.—Orange color streaked with green; light, brittle, soft, 
coarse-grained, with satiny surface. Sp. gr., 0.43573 weight of cu. 
ft., 27.15 lbs. 
Winter Buds.—Terminal bud, large, obtuse; axillary buds, 
smaller, globular. 
Leaves.—Alternate, unequally pinnately compound, sixteen to 
twenty-four inches long ; petiole stout, hairy, enlarged at the base, 
reddish, and surrounds and encloses the leaf bud in its axil. Leaf- 
lets eleven to thirty-one, two to five inches long, almost sessile, ob- 
long, rounded or heart-shaped, slightly unequal at base, serrate, 
acuminate, middle pairs longer than the others; midrib prominent, 
and primary veins forking near the margin. They come out of the 
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