Sumac

“ 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. ”

“ On the edge of the grove, at the very mark of the harrow, rises the tangle of the swamp margin. On the higher ground is the sumac, the leaves still green, though ripening in the margins to a dull red, holding none of the vivid flame that burns the Northern sumac leaves to ashes before October is over. It is December, indeed, and the wind out of the north has sometimes a wire edge of northern ice on it, but the first margin of dense trees that lines the river bank takes off this edge and the sun floods all the sheltered places with warmth that bids one seek the shade for shelter. ”

“ Still do we recall the sickish smell of musty sap that greeted our nostrils when we poured the boiling water in to cleanse those old, brown buckets. During the long winter evenings we had all had something to do with the fashioning of the sap spiles made from selected stems of sumac; after some older one had removed half of the small branch lengthwise with a draw-shave we younger ones had cleared out the pith, thinking thirstily meanwhile of the sweet liquid which would sometime flow there. ”

“ The ground on each side of the stream was a very garden of wild bloom. The sumac made a low border of glowing color; back of this flaming mass grew dogwood and Judas trees; while walnut, maple and linden, overrun with wild grape and woodbine, made mounds of bright green foliage, from which the ringing notes of the cardinal came to us above the song of the water.
Every rock and ledge was cushioned with moss and ferns, intermingled with long green ropes of woodbine, Here were vast hanging gardens of many gradations of green, softened by gleams of pale light from the afternoon sun. ”

“ Near a stream I came upon a patch of the rare climbing fern, an evergreen fern which climbs like a vine and has flat, veined leaves that look like little green hands with four and five fingers. The stem is like drawn copper wire. Beyond the fern I met the pale-gray poison sumac, with its corpse-colored berries growing out from the sides of the twigs instead of from the end, as do the berries of the harmless varieties. ”

“ Under these broad leaves the catbird is concealed. Elegant epicurean, he is sampling the ripening choke-cherries. He complains querulously at being disturbed, flirts his tail and flies. Stout branches of sumac, with bark colored and textured much like brown egg-shell, sustain a canopy of wild grape, the clusters of green fruit only partly hidden by the broad leaves. Curiously beautiful are the sumac's leaves, showing long leaf-stalks of pink purple and pretty leaflets strung regularly on either side. The sumac's fruit, unlike the grape's, seeks no concealment ”

“ 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. Another low-growing, but more or less downy upland sumac, the DWARF, BLACK, or MOUNTAIN SUMAC (R. copallina) , may be known by its dark, glossy green foliage, pale on the underside, and by the broadening of the stem into wings between the leaflets. ”

“ The tree of heaven is useful for landscape planting, succeeding in all kinds of soils and all kinds of growing conditions. It makes a rapid showing and is practically free from all diseases and insect injury.
55 SMOOTH SUMAC Rhus glabra L.
THE smooth sumac is usually a tall shrub but occasionally it develops as a tree 20 to 25 feet tall with a trunk diameter of 6 to 10 inches. A few large spreading branches form a broad, flat, open head. The twigs are smooth and glabrous and have a thick, light brown pith with small round winter buds. ”

“ Frequent observation and recognition of the plants as they are encountered almost daily is the best way to become poison-oak or poison-ivy conscious. Nonpoisonous sumacs are easily distinguished from the poisonous species by the seed heads and leaves. ”

“ But what the land lacks in trees it nearly makes up in shrubs. Three varieties of sumac, reaching often as high as fifteen or eighteen feet, and spreading as many wide, stand thick upon a thousand hill-sides and fill with green the driest and stoniest ravines. Two kinds of live oak bushes, two varieties of lilac, one with white, the other with lavender flowers, the madrona, the coffee-berry, the manzanita, the wild mahogany, the choke-berry, all of brightest green, with adenostoma and baccharis, two dark-green bushes, looking like red and white cedar, form what is called the chaparral. ”

“ Yes, you think they are only pussy-willows, but wait until you see. We shall take home a band of the Monkeys, tree and all, and you will learn that a pussy-willow is only a baby Monkey half done.
Now let us get a branch of live elderberry and one or two limbs of the low red sumac. It is best to use sumac because it is the only handy wood that one can easily stick a pin through, or cut. The pieces should be five or six inches long and about half an inch to an inch thick. They should have as many odd features as possible, knots, bumps, fungus, moss, etc. ”

“ The pulp of these berries is intensely sour, its flavor giving the sumac its other name of “vinegar plant.” These red clusters crushed in sweetened water make a very good imitation of the red circus-lemonade of our childhood. The staghorn is not to be confounded with its treacherous sister, the poison sumac, with her corpse-colored berries. She is a vitriol-thrower, and with her death-pale bark and arsenic-green leaves, always makes me think of one of those haggard, horrible women of the Terror.
It was in Fern Valley that the Botanist made his discovery for the day. ”

“ Immediately beyond, where the ground becomes soggier and lower—dropping away hopelessly into the tangle of dogwood, holly, poison sumac and pitcher plants that is Moccasin Swamp—undergrowth of titi and annis has formed a protecting wall impenetrable to all save the furtive ones. ”

“ By certain traits we may always know, with absolute certainty, a poison sumach when we find it. Look at the berries. If they droop and are grayish white, avoid touching the tree, no matter how alluring the wonderful scarlet foliage is. Poison sumachs grow only in the swamps. We should suspect any sumach that stands with its feet in the water, whether it bears flowers and fruit or not. ”

“ The skin irritant of poison-ivy, poison-oak, and poison sumac is the same toxic agent. It is a nonvolatile phenolic substance called urushiol and is found in all parts of the plant, including roots and fruit. It occurs in great abundance in the plant sap. The danger of poisoning is greatest in spring and summer, when the sap is abundant, and least late in fall or in winter. ”

“ Great quantities of it are employed in printing calicoes in rich patterns, and the dresses worn by ladies and girls often owe their bright colors to the leaves of the sumac. The way in which it is collected and prepared for use is very simple. As soon as the leaves turn red, which is toward the end of summer, the sumac hunters begin their work. They scatter through the fields, or along the sides of the mountain, and break off the twigs on which the leaves are growing; for these twigs do not make the leaves less valuable. ”

“ When they cannot obtain tobacco, they use as a substitute the dried leaves of the sumac, the inner bark of the red willow dried, and the leaves and bark of a few other shrubs, the fumes of which are less stimulating, but equally as palatable as those of tobacco. ”

“ WINGED OR DWARF SUMAC (Rhus copallina L.) a tall shrub or rarely a small tree, abundant on limestone hills and bluffs. Leaves: pinnately compound, 6 to 8 inches long, leaflets not or remotely serrate on margins, leafy wings along stem between leaflets. Twigs: slightly pubescent (fuzzy) , buds not entirely encircled by leaf scar, juice watery. Flowers: similar to R. glabra but later, in August. Fruit: clusters do not retain their bright color as late. Wood: light and soft, greenish brown.
250 winged sumac ”

“ Flowers.—Greenish or yellowish-white, in upright terminal clusters, some perfect, others unisexual, appearing in June. Fruit.—Crimson, small, globular, hairy.
This is the common sumach which illuminates our hill-sides every autumn with masses of flame-like color. Many of us would like to decorate our homes with its brilliant sprays, but are deterred from handling them by the fear of being poisoned, not knowing that one glance at the crimson fruit-plumes should reassure us, as the poisonous sumachs are white-fruited. ”

“ Occasional isolated plants are found outside of swampy regions. Apparently these plants are started from seed distributed by birds. The plants in dry soil usually do not become more than a few feet tall. They are likely to cause poisoning to unsuspecting individuals, as single isolated plants are not readily recognized, especially out of their usual region.
The leaves of the poison sumac are divided into 7 to 13 leaflets, arranged in pairs with a single leaflet at the end of the midrib (fig. 21) . ”

“ Figure 18.—Western poison-oak: A, Top of shrub, with leaves and fruit; B, clusters of fruit after leaves have fallen.
Low-growing plants, especially those exposed to full sunlight, are often quite woody and show no tendency for vining. Low-growing plants with woody stems are common in pasture areas or along roadsides. Livestock in grazing do not invade the poison-ivy shrub, and as a rule these plants continue to spread both by root-stock and seed.
Figure 19.—A large poison sumac shrub about 15 feet tall, growing on the edge of a swamp. ”

“ Very few persons have a sufficient degree of immunity to protect them from poisonous plants, and many do not recognize them in the various forms that they assume in different parts of the country.
One or more kinds of poison-ivy—common poison-ivy, oakleaf poison-ivy, and western poison-oak—occur in abundance in almost every part of the United States. Poison sumac is of more limited distribution and occurs chiefly east of the Mississippi River, usually in swampy regions. ”

“ The poison-sumac, swamp-sumac, or dogwood (Fig. 3) is ten times more severe in its poisoning qualities than the poison-ivy. It grows from six to ten feet in height, in low marshy grounds. The berries are smooth, white, or dun-colored, and in form and size closely resemble those of the ivy. ”

“ The oleaginous seeds form the principal food of half-starved Indians, while the stalks supply them with a scanty fuel: being of rapid growth, it has been used in the States to arrest the flow of malaria, and it serves as house and home to the rattlesnake. Conspicuous by its side is the sumach, whose leaf, mixed with kinnikinik, the peel of the red willow, forms the immemorial smoking material of the Wild Man of the North. Equally remarkable for their strong odor are large beds of wild onions; they are superlatively wholesome, but they affect the eater like those of Tibet. ”

“ Range: Nova Scotia across to Manitoba and North Dakota, south to Texas, east to Florida; also in Mexico.
Distinguishing Features: This species lacks the winged leaf stalks of the Shining Sumac and lacks the velvety twigs of the Staghorn Sumac.
279
280 STAGHORN SUMAC
Rhus typhina L. Growth Form: Small to medium tree up to 40 feet tall; trunk diameter up to 15 inches; crown broadly rounded or sometimes flat.
Bark: Dark brown, smooth at first, becoming scaly in age.
Twigs: Stout, dark brown, covered by velvety hairs; leaf scars nearly encircling the twigs, with 6-9 bundle traces. ”

“ When poisoned with ivy or sumac (they are all sumacs) , if time and cooling medicines are taken, the poison will slowly exhaust itself; but it is a tedious and slow operation. A cure which is in use with the Indians of California and the Territories is to eat a few of the leaves after the poison has made its appearance on the skin. The Editor of Harper's Young People tells me that he has tried this method, and that in his case it effected a complete cure within twelve hours.
[Begun in No. 92 of Harper's Young People, August 2.] TIM AND TIP ”

“ Treatment for Poison Oak—Poison Ivy—Poison Sumach.—Mr. Charles Morris, of Philadelphia, who has studied the subject closely, uses, as a sovereign remedy, frequent bathing of the affected parts in water as hot as can be borne. If used immediately after exposure, it may prevent the eruption appearing. If later, it allays the itching, and gradually dries up the swellings, though they are very stubborn after they have once appeared. But an application every few hours keeps down the intolerable itching, which is the most annoying feature of sumach poisoning. ”

“ As yet the birds have not taken all of the scarlet berries of the bitter-sweet vine, which clings lovingly, but with a somewhat parasitical clasp about the hospitable boles of the great trees. In color rivalry looms up the dark red panicles of the sumach, whose acrid fruit, which is a last resort for hungry birds, must prove a pungent pill to the feathered folk. ”

“ Nature works deftly, at first with delicate brush touching a shadbush, a clump of osmunda, or again only a leaf, a spot of color, a patch here and a streak there; but the day of transfiguration approaches. Early October sees the stag-horn sumacs fairly scintillate with color. At last the whole color-box is upset and runs red down a hillside huckleberry patch, meeting a yellow streak in a ravine and spreading out over the swamps, a sea of scarlet and gold. Every year Nature starts out in this modest fashion and ends in an upset and riot of color. ”