o condition of the system rendering those sus tib 
have no cause to fear. I have myself often squeeze 
OUR POISONOUS PLANTS. 5 
little resemblance. They may, however, be always distinguished 
from that graceful plant by the three leaflets on a stem, and by 
the mossy aggregation of roots by which they adhere to trees and 
rocks. The Virginian creeper, onthe contrary, has:/ive leaflets and 
is furnished with tendrils which expand into sucker-like disks to - 
assist the plant in climbing. It turns a vivid crimson in autumn, 
and as it is seen climbing some evergreen or trailing over a stone 
wall is one of the chief ornaments of that season. The poison- 
ivy also colors beautifully, but I think much sooner, and the tints 
are different, bright yellow, orange, or mahogany. Many persons 
have been induced, by their own ignorance or the superficial knowl- 
edge of their friends, to avoid or even destroy the harmless wood- 
bine, or else have suffered by a too free handling of its mischievous 
neighbor. I say neighbor, as the two are often found near 
together and are similar in their habits of growth. The poison- 
ivy is very common, and may even be seen embracing the fences 
or wrapping large trees with its snaky branches. It is said some- 
times to invest trees so closely as to cause their death. How- 
ever that may be, I have seen its foliage entirely replace that of 
some lofty elm, now dead, and dependent alone for its beauty 
upon the plant the growth of which it had assisted. = 
A more dangerous plant, yet one of the most beautiful trees as 
which we meet in swamps, is the poison-dogwood (Rhus venenata 
Fig. 3). It has from sever to thirteen leaflets on a common stalk, 
an odd one terminating the series. Its autumn coloring is magnifi- 
cent, passing from green through a bright yellow, to crimson and 
scarlet, the midrib remaining in each case an intensered. Thoreau 
says, somewhere, that the plant appears to “ blush for its sins.” 
With its smooth gray bark and pinnate foliage it is conspicuous 
always, and when once known is easily remembered, but the 
desired information is often the result of a sad experience. 
Painful swellings, inflammation, and intense itchings are to many 
the result of contact with it, or even with the less noxious 
Rhus toxieodendron. Some persons are even affected. by p f 
near, while others may handle it with absolute impunity. a 
is said, however, that even the chosen few are not always x 
empt from its influence, a profuse perspiration or some unusual — 
aptible who usually 
2d the leave 
a eti never avoid Pe tree when it ‘lies in 
