4 
BULLETIX 706 ; U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
clusters, and is covered with short reddish hairs. The distinguishing 
characteristics of this species are the smoothness of the stalks and 
leaf stems, together with a bluish white bloom, a powdery film similar 
in appearance to that found on plums, which covers them and the 
under side of the leaflets (PL III). White sumac grows in dry soil 
from Xova Scotia to British Columbia, and south to Florida, Missis- 
sippi, and Arizona. 
Staghorx sumac, sometimes called Hairy sumac (Rhus hirta, 
L.). — A shrub, or small tree, with maximum height of 40 feet and 
trunk diameter of 9 inches. Leaflets, dark green and nearly smooth 
on top, pale, and more or less hairy underneath, with edges sharply 
saw-toothed. The fruit, which grows in dense terminal clusters, is 
thickly covered with bright crimson hairs. The distinguishing 
characteristic of this species is the hairy growth along the stalks and 
leaf stems (PL IV). Staghorn sumac is found in dry and rocky soils 
from Xova Scotia to Georgia, especially among the mountains, and 
as far west as southern Ontario, Minnesota, Missouri, and Mississippi, 
Since poison sumac sometimes is mistaken for the more common 
species, and its poisonous effects are usually very severe, it seems de- 
sirable to describe it as an aid in distinguishing poison sumac from 
the other species. 
Poisox sumac, sometimes called Poisox elder (Rhus vemix, L.). — 
A shrub, or small tree, with maximum height of 28 feet and trunk 
diameter of 6 inches. The leaflets are green on top and underneath, 
with edges smooth. The fruit, which grows in loose, open clusters, 
consists of smooth white or light gray berries. It should be noted 
that poison sumac differs decidedly from the important species in 
the color and cluster formation of its fruit. Furthermore, it may be 
easily distinguished from the dwarf sumac by the absence of the 
winged growth along the leaf stems, and from the white and stag- 
horn sumac by its smooth-edged leaflets (PL V). Poison sumac 
almost invariably is found in swamps. It grows from southern 
Ontario and near the eastern coast in the Eastern and Middle States, 
south to Florida, and west to Minnesota, Missouri, and Louisiana. 
PRESENT METHODS OF GATHERING AND CURING AMERICAN SUMAC. 
COMMON NAMES USED BY GATHERERS. 
Sumac is commonly termed by the gatherers either "black" or 
"white." "Black" sumac refers to dwarf sumac (Rhus copaUlna). 
and "white" sumac usually means white sumac (Rhus glabra), al- 
though it is believed that this term is sometimes applied also to stag- 
horn sumac (Rhus hi Ha). Rhus hirta is not so extensively gathered 
as Rhus glabra. In some sections, as in eastern Virginia, only the 
dwarf sumac is collected, while hi others, such as the western part of 
Virginia and in West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, both 
dwarf and white sumac are gathered. 
