ANACARDIACE^E. (CASHEW FAMILY.) Ill 



heaven/' — is much planted as a shade-tree, especially in towns, and is inclining 

 to spread from seed in Pennsylvania. It belongs to the order Simarubace^e, 

 which differs from Rutacese in the absence of dots in the leaves. The tree is 

 known by its very long pinnate leaves of many leaflets, and small polygamous 

 greenish flowers in panicles, the female producing 2-5 thin, linear-oblong, veiny 

 samaras. (Adv. from China.) 



Order 26. ANACARDIACE^E. (Cashew Family.) 



Trees or shrubs, ivith a resinous or milky acrid juice, dotless alternate 

 leaves, and small, often polygamous, regular, pentandrous flowers, with a 1- 

 celled and 1-ovuled ovary, but with 3 styles or stigmas. — Petals imbricated 

 in the bud. Seed without albumen, borne on a curved stalk that rises 

 from the base of the cell. Stipules none. Juice or exhalations often 

 poisonous. — Represented here only by the genus 



1. RHUS, L. Sumach. 



Sepals 5. Petals 5. Stamens 5, inserted under the edge or between the lobes 

 of a flattened disk in the bottom of the calyx. Fruit small and indehiscent, a 

 sort of dry drupe. — Leaves (simple in R. Cotinus, the Smoke-Plant of gardens) 

 usually compound. Flowers greenish-white or yellowish. (The old Greek and 

 Latin name of the genus. ) 



§ 1. StJMAC, DC. Flowers polygamous, in a terminal thyrsoid panicle: fruit 

 globular, clothed with acid crimson hairs ; the stone smooth : leaves odd-pinnate. 

 (Not poisonous.) 



1. R. typhina, L. (Staghorn Sumach.) Branches and stalks densely 

 velvety -hairy ; leaflets 11-31, pale beneath, oblong-lanceolate, pointed, serrate, 

 rarely laciniatc. — Hillsides. June. — Shrub or tree 10° -30° high, with or- 

 ange-colored wood. 



2. R. glabra, L. (Smooth S.) Smooth, somewhat glaucous ; leaflets 11- 

 31, whitened beneath, lanceolate-oblong, pointed, serrate. — Rocky or barren 

 soil. June, July. — Shrub 2° - 12° high. A var. has laciniate leaves. 



3. R. COpallina, L. (Dwarf S.) Branches and stalks downy: petioles 

 wing-margined between the 9-21 oblong or ovate-lanceolate (often entire) leaf- 

 lets, Avhich are oblique or unequal at the base, smooth and shining above. — 

 Rocky hills. July. — Shrub 1° - 7° high, with running roots. 



§ 2. TOXICODENDRON, Tourn. Flowers polygamous, in loose and slender 

 axillary panicles : fruit globular, glabrous, whitish or dun-colored ; the stone stri' 

 ate: leaves odd-pinnate or 3-foliolate, thin. (Poisonous to the touch.) 



4. R. venenata, DC. (Poison S. or Dogwood.) Smooth, or nearly 

 so; leaflets 7-13, obovate-oblong, entire. (R. Vernix, L.) — Swamps. June. — 

 Shrub 6° -18° high. The most poisonous species : also called Poison Elder. 



5. R. Toxicodendron, L. (Poison Ivy. Poison Oak.) Climbing 

 by rootlets over rocks, &c, or ascending trees ; leaflets 3, rhombic-ovate, mostly 

 pointed, and rather downy beneath, variously notched, sinuate, or cut-lobed, — or 

 el so entire, then it is R. radicans, L. — Thickets, low grounds, &c. June. 



