The Smooth, Upland, or Scarlet Sumac (R. glabra), similar to
the staghorn, but lacking its velvety down, and usually of much
lower growth, is the very common and widely distributed shrub of
dry roadsides, railroad banks, and barren fields. Anotherlow-grow-
ing, but more or less downy upland sumac, the Dwarf, Black, or
Mountain species (R. copallina), may be known by its dark, glossy
green foliage, pale on the under side, and by the broadening of the
stem into wings between the leaflets. Hungry migrating birds
alight to feast on the harmless acid red fruit when the gorgeous
autumnal foliage illuminates their route southward. But while
they are, of course, the natural agents for distributing the plants
over the country, men find that by cutting bits of any sumac root
and planting them in good garden soil, strong specimens are
secured within a year. An exquisite cut-leaved variety of the
smooth sumac adorns many fine lawns.
Everyone should know the Poison Sumac (R. Vernix)—R.
venenata of Gray—as the shrub above all others to avoid. Like its
cousin, the Poison or Three-leaved Ivy (R. radicans), which
once had the specific name Toxicodendron, although Linnaeus
applied that title to a hairy shrub of the Southern States, the poi-
son sumac causes most painful swelling and irritation to the skin
of some people, though they do nothing more than pass it by
when the wind is blowing over it. Others may handle both these
plants withimpunity. In spring they are especially noisome; but
when the pores of the skin are opened by perspiration, people who
are at all sensitive should give them a wide berth at any season.
