=Note.=--This sumac has the reputation of being the most poisonous of New England plants. The treacherous beauty of its autumn leaves is a source of grief to collectors. Many are seriously affected, without actual contact, by the exhalation of vapor from the leaves, by grains of pollen floating in the air, and even by the smoke of the burning wood. It is easily distinguished from the other sumacs. The leaflets are not toothed like those of _R. typhina_ (staghorn sumac) and _R. glabra_ (smooth sumac); it is not pubescent like _R. typhina_ and _R. copallina_ (dwarf sumac); the rachis of the compound leaf is not wing-margined as in _R. copallina_; the panicles of flower and fruit are not upright and compact, but drooping and spreading; the fruit is not red-dotted with dense crimson hairs, but is smooth and whitish. Unlike the other sumacs, it grows for the most part in lowlands and swamps. In the vicinity of Southington, southern Connecticut, _Rhus copallina_ is occasionally found with a trunk 5 or 6 inches in diameter (C. H. Bissell). [Illustration: PLATE LXIX.--Rhus Vernix.] 1. Winter buds. 2. Branch with sterile flowers. 3. Sterile flower. 4. Branch with fertile flowers. 5. Fertile flower. 6. Fruiting branch. AQUIFOLIACEAE. HOLLY FAMILY. =Ilex opaca, Ait.= HOLLY. AMERICAN HOLLY. =Habitat and Range.=--Generally found in somewhat sheltered situations in sandy loam or in low, moist soil in the vicinity of water. Maine,--reported on the authority of Gray's _Manual_, sixth edition, in various botanical works, but no station is known; New Hampshire and Vermont,--no station reported; Massachusetts,--occasional from Quincy southward upon the mainland and the island of Naushon; rare in the peat swamps of Nantucket; Rhode Island,--common in South Kingston and Little Compton and sparingly found upon Prudence and Conanicut islands in Narragansett bay; Connecticut,--mostly restricted to the southwestern sections. Southward to Florida; westward to Missouri and the bottom-lands of eastern Texas. =Habit.=--A shrub or small tree, exceptionally reaching a height of 30 feet, with a trunk diameter of 15-18 inches, but attaining larger proportions south and west; head conical or dome-shaped, compact; branches irregular, mostly horizontal, clothed with a spiny evergreen foliage. The fertile trees are readily distinguished through late fall and early winter by the conspicuous red berries. =Bark.=--Bark of trunk thick, smooth on young trees, roughish, dotted on old, of a nearly uniform ash-gray on trunk and branches; the young shoots more or less downy, bright greenish-yellow, becoming smooth and grayish at the end of the season.