THE  AMERICAN 
JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY. 
MAY,  1881. 
KHUS  AROMATICA,  Aiton— FRAGRANT  SUMACH. 
Syn.    Sweet  Sumach,  Stink  or  Skunk  Bush, 
By  Harry  Winston  Harper,  Ph.G. 
From  an  Inaugural  Essay. 
Nat.  Ord.  Anacardiacese. 
The  fragrant  sumach  is  a  small  aromatic  shrub,  not  poisonous,  grow- 
in  dry,  rocky  soil,  in  hedges  and  thickets,  in  Canada  and  the  United 
States.  Its  height  varies  from  three  to  six  feet ;  it  is  erect,  sometimes 
decumbent,  branching,  glabrous.  The  stem  has  a  large  pith,  of  a 
pinkish  color,  and  a  thin  circular  layer  of  white  wood,  which  is  cov- 
ered with  a  thin  bark,  the  outer  surface  of  which  is  of  a  brown-gray 
color,  the  inner  surface  yellowish-green.  The  leaves  are  alternate, 
petiolate,  exstipulate  and  trifoliate,  with  sessile,  dark  green,  rhombic- 
ovate,  unequally  cut-toothed  leaflets,  two  to  three  inches  in  length ; 
pubescent  when  young,  thickish  when  old.  The  lateral  leaflets  are 
uneven  at  the  base,  while  the  larger  terminal  one  is  wedge-shaped. 
The  flowers  are  in  close  aments  preceding  the  leaves ;  yellowish,  with 
a  five-lobed  glandular  disk.  The  fruit  is  drupaceous,  subglobular, 
one-fourth  of  an  inch  in  diameter ;  scarlet,  densely  covered  with  pur- 
plish-red hairs,  and  incloses  a  roundish,  slightly  flattened,  oblong 
putamen.  It  has  an  odor  similar  to  that  of  rose  geranium,  and  a 
pleasant  acidulous  taste,  and  ripens  in  May  and  June. 
The  roots  are  branched,  vary  in  diameter  from  -j^  to  J  inch,  and 
contain  a  whitish  ligneous  meditullium  interspersed  with  ducts,  which 
are  not  apparent  to  the  naked  eye.  The  bark,  which  is  the  medicinal 
portion,  is  in  quills,  one  to  four  inches  in  length,  -j^  to  J  inch  in  diam- 
eter, and  from  to  -j^  of  an  inch  thick.  The  outer  surface  varies  in 
color  from  light  to  dark  brown,  and  is  marked  with  corky  protuber- 
ances and  transverse  fissures.  When  the  corky  layer  is  removed  the 
outer  bark  is  brought  to  view,  which  is  of  an  orange-red  color,  is  lon- 
gitudinally wrinkled  and  transversely  fissured.    The  inner  surface  is 
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