THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 
Vol. III. September 15, 1902. No. 3 
SOME NATIVE PLANTS OF VALUE. 
By Charles Turnbull. 
** The clustering- sumach flamed along a ledge, 
The life of ruddy Autumn filled its veins 
Deep growing masses glinting in the sun 
Redder than the wild strawberry, where it stains 
The woodland ways, mid light and shadow spun; 
A gorgeous dream, a color-draught divine. 
Spilled on the golden afternoon like wine." 
In our autumnal perambulations we cannot fail to note the 
ruddy leaves and dark crimson spires of fruit in the spreading 
clumps of sumac {Rhus), strewn over the gray, boulder-covered 
hill. In that season when the bluejay screams in the wood and 
the nuts rattle down, it approaches the maple in the ruddiness of 
its foliage ; but in the winter, no plant looks more desolate than it, 
standing forlorn and bare in the past season's dry and withered 
grass. It appears to be a gregarious member of the plant world 
and the colonies occupying long-abondoned fields or rocky hill- 
sides, render considerable areas quite impenetrable. That solitary 
shrub is no doubt a hermit, or perhaps a pioneer that has thus 
boldly established himself and intends forming a new colony. 
The commonest of the genus is the staghorn sumac {R. typhina) 
It is also the largest, often attaining the height of twenty feet, 
with extremely crooked, angular branches. The common name 
staghorn has reference to this very angularity. The tannin of 
the leaves imparts the tint of the brown hillsides to delicate leath- 
ers, but this principle is not so abundant as in the Italian sumac 
{R. coriaria). The wood is a splendid dark yellow having fine 
distinct markings and used sometimes in inlaid work. The spec- 
ies copalina or black sumac yields a kind of varnish. 
