RHUS. 



245 



RIBES. 



general mode, as the seeds, which are 

 very small, and look like sawdust, are 

 ripened in great abundance in the 

 months of August and September ; 

 and the seeds of the American kinds 

 are imported every year in large quan- 

 tities from America. All the Rho- 

 dodendrons and Azaleas may be re- 

 moved at almost any season, and 

 when of almost any size, if taken up 

 with a ball of earth round the roots. 

 The best seasons, however, for re- 

 moving them are spring and autumn. 

 It may be observed that Rhododen- 

 dron seed will remain good for several 

 years, though, when practicable, it is 

 best to sow it as soon as it is ripe, as 

 the plants will come up much sooner. 

 All Rhododendrons should be grown 

 in a shady, moist situation, and they 

 will all thrive under the drip of trees. 



Rhodo'ra. — Ericacece. — Rhodora 

 canadensis, is a very pretty little 

 plant, a native of Canada, resembling 

 the dwarf Rhododendrons, excepting 

 that the flowers are much smaller, and 

 the leaves are deciduous. It is quite 

 hardy, and only requires to be grown 

 in peat earth, kept moist. It flowers 

 in April. 



Rhu's. — Terebinthacece, or Ana- 

 cardiacece. — Sumach. Deciduous 

 shrubs, natives of Europe, Asia, and 

 America, interesting from the beau- 

 tiful colours which their leaves as- 

 sume when dying off in autumn. All 

 the kinds are more or less poisonous. 

 Rhus Cotinus, the Virginian Su- 

 mach, is called the Peri wig- tree both in 

 French and German, from the curious 

 appearance of its seed-vessels, which 

 look like a powdered wig. It is a 

 very ornamental shrub, often growing 

 ten or twelve feet high, and flowering 

 abundantly. It grows best in a dry 

 loam, and it is propagated by layers. 

 Rhus typhina, the Stag's-horn Su- 

 mach, has received its name from the 

 singular appearance of the young 

 shoots, which are covered with a soft 



velvet-like down, resembling that of 

 a young stag's horn, both in colour 

 and texture. The leaves are impari- 

 pinnate, with eight or ten pairs of 

 leaflets, and they die off of a beautiful 

 purplish red in autumn. The flowers 

 are produced in terminal spikes, and 

 they are succeeded by deep purplish- 

 red woolly fruit. Rhus glabra, the 

 scarlet Sumach, has red flowers, and 

 rich velvet-looking dark-scarlet fruit, 

 which becomes crimson as it ripens. 

 Rhus vernicifera, the varnish ox- 

 Japan Sumach, is a greenhouse plant 

 in England, but in India, and in Japan, 

 it is grown in large plantations, for its 

 gum, which issues from the tree when 

 wounded, and forms the finest varnish 

 in the world. Rhus venenata, the 

 swamp Sumach, or poison-wood, has 

 so virulent a sap that it occasions fever 

 and inflammation in those who cut it 

 down. Even touching the plant, or 

 smelling it, will in many cases pro- 

 duce eruptions and swellings all over 

 the body. The plant is not very 

 handsome, but the leaves become of 

 a brilliant red in autumn. R. cori- 

 aria, the elm-leaved Sumach, and 

 R. copallina, the gum-copal tree, 

 resemble R. typhina ; and R. rddi- 

 cans, the poison-oak, and R. toxico- 

 dendron, the poison-vine, are poison- 

 ous plants, natives of North Ameriea, 

 resembling R. venenata. All the 

 kinds of Rhus are of easy culture in 

 any loamy soil ; and they may be all 

 propagated by cuttings or layers. 

 Several of the kinds may have their 

 branches pegged down, and a little 

 earth strewed over them, when they 

 will strike root. 



Ribbon Grass. — Arundo Donax, 

 var. versicolor. 



Ribes — Grossulacece. — The Cur- 

 rant. The ornamental kinds of Ribes 

 which have been introduced into 

 British gardens since the commence- 

 ment of the present century, are now 

 some of our most beautiful shrubs. 



