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SUMACH. 
Natural Order , Anacardiace^e, (R. Brown.) Linncean 
Classification, Pentandria Trigynia. 
RHUS* (Linn.) 
* 
Flowers polygamous or bisexual. — Calyx small, 5 -parted, persistent. 
Petals 5, small, ovate spreading, imbricated in aestivation. Stamens 5, 
equal, free. Torus an orbicular disk. Ovary ovate or globose, 1- 
celled: ovule solitary. Styles 3, distinct or combined. Fruit almost 
a dry drupe. The Nut bony, 1 -celled, 1 -seeded, even or grooved. 
Seed, (by abortion,) solitary, attached to the extremity of a basilar 
funiculus. Embryo inverted ; cotyledones foliaceous ; radicle curved 
and opposite to the hylum. 
Shrubs or trees of various countries and climates, but more abundant 
in those which are mild. Leaves alternate, compound, ternate or pinnate. 
Panicles axillary and terminal, the flowers small, greenish, and inconspi- 
cuous. 
§ Metopium. Drupe ovate-oblong, dry and smooth , nut chartaceous . 
Seed arillate . 
# The name is derived from the Celtic word rhudd, signifying red, from 
the prevailing colour of the fruit. The name Sumach is from the Arabic, 
name Simag . 
