122 
CORAL SUMACH. 
calyx is 5-parted, the segments ovate and dilated with 
membranous margins. Petals 5, ovate, yellowish-white, 
covered with dark longitudinal lines. Stamens 5, not ex- 
serted. In the fertile flower the stigma appears to be very 
small and unequally 3-lobed. The berries are oblong, 
smooth, somewhat oblique, scarlet, and as large as peas; 
the nut is thin and chartaceous. 
A transparent gum in small quantities, exudes sponta- 
neously from the peduncles of the flowers, which probably 
is of the nature of varnish. 
Among the useful and remarkable species of this ex- 
tensive genus, may be mentioned the Elm-Leaved Sumach, 
( Rhus Coriaria ), which is so far harmless as occasionally to 
be employed for culinary purposes, the seeds being com- 
monly used in Aleppo at meals to provoke an appetite. 
The leaves and seeds are also used in medicine as astrin- 
gent and styptic applications. From time immemorial it 
has been employed like oak bark for tanning leather, and 
that of Turkey is chiefly tanned with this plant. The pulp 
of the drupes of several species affords an agreeable acid, 
similar to that of wood sorrel, either the oxalic or tar- 
taric. 
The Rhus vernix affords the Japan varnish, which oozes 
from incisions made in the tree, and grows thick and black 
when exposed to the air. It is so transparent, that when 
laid pure upon boxes or furniture, every vein of the wood 
may be clearly seen. With it the Japanese varnish most 
of their household furniture made of wood. The milky 
juice of the plant stains linen a dark brown; the whole 
shrub like our Poison Ash, (J2. venenata ), to which it is 
nearly allied, is in a high degree poisonous ; and the poison 
is communicated by touching or smelling any part of it. 
Inflammations appear on the skin in large blotches, suc- 
ceeded by pustules which rise in the inflamed parts, and 
