SUMAC FAMILY 
67 
1. RHUS L. Sumac 
Shrubs or small trees. Leaves (in ours) simple or 3-foliolate. Stamens 
5. Drupe flattened, with rather thin and dry flesh. (Ancient name.) 
Leaves 3-foliolate : deciduous shrubs, throughout Cal. 
Flowers greenish, in panicles; drupe whitish, the stone rough..1. R. diversiloba. 
Flowers yellowish, in spikes ; drupe red, the stone smooth.2. R. trilobata. 
Leaves simple, leathery ; evergreen shrubs ; flowers in panicles ; S. Cal. 
Panicle much branched, with slender divisions, glalDrous or nearly so ; drupe 
whitish.3. R. laurina. 
Panicle composed of stout spikes, finely pubescent; drupe red. 
Leaves elliptic, rounded at apex.4. R. integrifolia. 
Leaves ovate, acute or acuminate.5. R. ovata. 
1. R. diversiloba T. & G. Poison Oak. Erect shrub 11 to 23 dm. 
high, or the stems climbing tree trunks by adventitious rootlets; leaflets 
variable, roundish to ovate, variously lobed or toothed; panicles axillary, 
appearing with the leaves, somewhat pendulous; flesh of the whitish 
drupe marked with black fibres.—Hills, lower mountains and along val¬ 
ley streams. The plant juice is highly poisonous as a skin irritant, al¬ 
though some people have immunity. The poison is a non-volatile oil and 
one may be poisoned only by actual contact or through clothing or 
other objects which have been in contact v/ith the bushes, or through 
smoke particles. It is more widely spread in California than any other 
shrub. 
2. R. trilobata Nutt. Squaw Bush. Diffusely branching, 6 to 14 
dm. high; leaflets broadly ovate or elliptic, cuneate at base, crenate or 
lobed; flowers pale yellow, appearing before the leaves, borne in ter¬ 
minal often clustered spikes; drupe viscidly pilose.—Narrow valleys or 
flats in canon bottoms. The slender but tough pliable branchlets were 
prized in basket-making by the native tribes. 
3. R. laurina Nutt. Laurel-Sumac. Very leafy shrub, exhaling an 
aromatic odor; leaves ovate or lanceolate, abruptly mucronate, 3.6 to 
12 cm. long; panicle dense; flowers 1 to 2 mm. long; drupe whitish, very 
small.—S. Cal. valleys near the sea. In San Diego Co. it is esteemed as 
a bee-food shrub. 
4. R. integrifclia B. & H. Lemonade-berry. Shrub 8.5 to 28 dm. 
high; leaves entire or with a few small sharp teeth, 2.4 to 6 cm. long; 
panicles ashy-puberulent; flowers 4 to 6 mm. long; bracts, sepals and 
petals ciliolate.—S. Cal., often forming thickets near the coast. The 
excretion on the surface of the berry is used for an acid drink. 
5. R. ovata Wats. Sugar-Bush. Similar to no. 4; leaves shining; 
panicle dull-puberulent or glabrate.—Dry hills, S. Cal. The sweetish 
waxen covering of the berries is used by the native tribes for sugar. 
2. SCHINUS L. 
Tree. Leaves with many leaflets. Flowers yellowish green, the stami- 
nate and pistillate on separate plants, borne in axillary and terminal 
panicles. Stamens 10. Drupe globose, oily. (Greek name for the mas¬ 
tic-tree, Pistacia lentiscus; applied to this genus on account of the resi¬ 
nous mastic-like juice of some species.) 
1. S. molle L. Pepper-tree. Leaflets numerous, lanceolate, serrate; 
