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 poison 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 with
impunity. 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.
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