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POISON SUMAC
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Poison sumac, Rhus vernix, of the eastern United States, is a shrub or small tree of the cashew family, Anacardiaceae. It grows to 6 m (20 ft) or more in height and has a smooth, gray, black-speckled bark. Its leaves, divided into 7 to 13 smooth-margined leaflets, are from 15 to 38 cm (6 to 15 in) long and have bright red stalks.
The small, greenish white or yellowish green flowers are borne in drooping clusters on purplish stalks, followed by hanging clusters of small, grayish white berrylike drupes. The poison, considered more virulent than that of poison ivy, can cause serious skin reactions.
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