Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/478

 132 SUMACH largest of the northern species, sometimes reaching 30 ft., but is usually about 10 ft. ; it is readily distinguished from the preceding by the copious soft velvety down which clothes the ends of the branches ; the wood and abun- dant pith are yellowish or orange-colored; the clusters of fruit, at first crimson, turn purple in autumn; they have the same acid proper- ties as the foregoing. The dwarf or mountain sumach (R. copallina) is a remarkably neat shrub, seldom more than 6 or 8 ft. high ; the branches are downy, but less conspicuously so than in the stag's-horn sumach, and it is readi- ly distinguished from either of the others by its dark shining leaves, the common petiole to which bears a winged margin; the leaves in autumn turn to a rich purple ; fruit similar to the preceding. A very dwarf species of this section, R. pumila, with branches only, about a foot high, is found from North Carolina southward in pine barrens ; this has been erroneously described as poisonous. 2. The section lobadium includes species in which the flowers are in short ament-like spikes prece- ding the leaves, fruit flattish, and leaves of three leaflets, not poisonous. The principal species is the fragrant sumach (R. aromatica), a straggling bush 4 or 5 ft. high ; its range is from Vermont to Florida, and westward to the Kocky mountains, where it has smaller leaves and has been described as a distinct species (R. trilobata). The leaves of the eastern form are pleasantly fragrant when bruised, and those of the western have a strong and heavy odor; they with other leaves form the kinni- kinick or killikinick, smoked by the Indians as a substitute for tobacco. 3. The section cotinus has simple leaves, not poisonous, and flowers in loose panicles. This is represented by the well known Venetian sumach, or smoke tree of the gardens (R. cotinus), sometimes Venetian Sumach (Ehus cotinus). Fruitful and abortive pedicels, reduced and of full size. called by nurserymen the purple fringe tree ; it is a native of southern Europe, and is rarely over 10 or 12 ft. high ; in summer it is nearly enveloped in large, feathery, cloud-like masses, which are at first greenish and later tinged with red ; this very showy effect is produced by the little pedicels or stalks of the flower cluster, very few of which bear flowers and fruit, while the abortive ones lengthen greatly, branch, and become plumose with long hairs. This plant was known to the ancients, and has long been used in Greece and other coun- tries for tanning and dyeing. A tree closely resembling this, found in the interior of Ala- bama, and described by Nuttall as a distinct species (R. cotinoides), is so little known that it is not yet admitted as really different. 4. The toxicodendron group includes two species with white or dun-colored berries in loose panicles and highly poisonous foliage. The Poison Ivy (lihus toxicodendron). poison ivy or poison oak (R. toxicodendron) is also in some localities called mercury vine ; it has leaves of three leaflets, which are rhom- bic ovate, and variously notched, lobed, or even entire; its flowers are in loose slender axillary panicles; the smooth fruit is pale brown. This is found nearly all over the country, especially in moist and shady places, and presents two forms, one erect and the other climbing, which were formerly described as distinct species, but run into one another in such a manner that they can hardly be re- garded as varieties ; it clambers over rocks and fences, and by means of aerial rootlets ascends the trunks of the tallest trees, and ad- heres with great pertinacity; when wounded it exudes a milky juice, which becomes black upon exposure to the air, and upon fabrics makes a stain indelible by all ordinary sol- vents ; the leaves taken internally promote the secretions of the skin and kidneys. This plant is highly poisonous to many persons. The poi- son sumach (R. venenata), also often called poi- son dogwood and poison elder, is an exceed- ingly neat and graceful shrub, 6 to 18 ft. high, found in swamps from Canada to Louisiana; the young shoots are purple, or green clouded