232 MISC. PUBLICATION 303, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 
Stomach records : Fourteen species of birds, including ruffed grouse, bob- 
white, ring-necked pheasant and mourning dove; eastern skunk. Ooservations : 
Four species of birds including sharp-tailed grouse; important food of ring- 
necked pheasant in southern Michigan ; closely browsed by moose on Isle Royale ; 
white-tailed deer, cottontail rabbit ; ninth most important preferred winter food 
of deer in Massachusetts. Resistant to grazing. 
Rhus utahensis, see Rhus trilohata. 
Rhus venenata, see Rhus vernix. 
Rhus vernix L. Poison sumac. 
R. venenata DC, Toxicodendron vernix (L.) Kuntze, T. plnnatum ^vlill. 
Range : 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30. 
Site: Moist, sun. 
Fruit : Drupe ; available in September, persistent. 
A large shrub to small or large tree ; foliage not dense ; rather loosely 
branched ; poisonous. 
Stomach records: Sixteen species of birds, including ruffed grouse and ring- 
necked pheasant. O'bsey^ations: Five species of birds; an important food of 
ring-necked pheasant and bobwhite ; cottontail rabbit. 
Rhus virens Lindh. Evergreen sumac. 
SchmaJtzia virens (Lindh.) Small. 
Range: 11, 16, 17, 20. 
Site: Dry, sun. 
Fruit : Drupe, available in September. 
A small to large shrub or small tree ; evergreen ; commonly occurs on lime- 
stone soils ; grows in extremely difficult positions ; may often be prostrate. 
Ribes spp. Gooseberry, currant. 
These species are alternate hosts of the white-pine blister rust. Various State 
and Federal laws restrict or prohibit the movement of Rioes as well as the five- 
leaved pines, and any operators interested in planting these should get in touch 
with the United States Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine, as v/ell 
as with the officers in their particular State who are concerned with the move- 
ment of the shrubs and trees ( State entomologists, plant-quarantine officers, and 
horticulturists ) . 
At the present time, while all species have not been tested, no native species 
is known to be resistant to the blister rust. Nine hundred feet is a safe dis- 
tance to plant Rifjcs (except the cultivated black currant) away from the pines. 
The spores of the rust have been known to infect cultivated black currant 150 
miles or more from the pines, and the statement has been made (i-54) that if 
there were no cultivated black currants, the disease would not be as widespread 
as it is. Reference to Pinus will show which of those species have five needles. 
The genus is often divided into two, Ril)es and GrossuJaria, currants and 
gooseberries, respectively. There appears yet to be considerable difference of 
opinion as to whether the two should be combined or separated. 
Stomach records (in addition to specific records) : Thirty-three species of 
birds, including dusky grouse, mourning dove, and Richardson's grouse : moun- 
tain sheep, black-tailed deer, coyote, northern chipmunk, pale chipmunk, and 
rufous-tailed chipmunk. Odservations (in addition to specific records) : Seven 
species of birds including dusky grouse, prairie sharp-tailed grouse, Gambel 
quail ; Say chipmunk, painted chipmunk, gray-footed chipmunk, lesser Colorado 
chipmunk, Arizona chipmunk, cliff squirrel, golden-mantled ground squirrel, 
alpine chipmunk, eastern chipmunk, western chipmunk, Allen's chipmunk, Siski- 
you chipmunk, pica, and porcupine ; formed a prominent share of the midsum- 
mer food of skunks in New York. Fairly to moderately palatable to livestock, 
except goats, and of considerable forage significance on some ranges. 
Ribes acerifolinm Howell 
R. hoivellii Greene. 
Range: 4. 
Site: Well-drained, sun. 
Fruit: Berry. 
A small shrub. 
Ribes afflne, see Ribes Jaxiflorum. 
