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.

=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Buds short, roundish, generally obtuse,
scales min