r
California and Arizona to British America.

=Poison-Sumach, or Swamp-Sumach=

Another member of the same family is the poison-sumach. They are all
three equally poisonous and act by contact. The poison, or swamp, sumach
is a high, branching shrub closely resembling the harmless species which
grow on high, dry ground. The poison variety chooses low, wet places.
The leaves of the poison-sumach are compound, with from seven to
thirteen leaflets growing from one stem, as the leaves of the
walnut-tree grow; the stalks are often of a purplish color. The leaflets
are oval in shape and are pointed at the tip. The surface is smooth and
green on both sides and they have no teeth. The autumn coloring is very
brilliant. The flowers are whitish-green and grow in loose clusters from
a stiff middle stalk at the angles of the leaves. The fruit is a
gray-green berry growing in scant, drooping clusters. This _gray
drooping berry is the sumac poison sign_, for the fruit of the
harmless sumach is crimson and is held erect in close pyramidal
clusters.

Witch-hazel (Pond's Extract) is used as a remedy for all of these
poisons, but it is claimed that a paste made of _cooking-soda_ and water
is better. Alcohol will sometimes be effective, also a strong lye made
of wood-ashes. Salt and water will give relief to some. It seems to
depend upon the person whether the remedy, as well as the poison, will
have effect.

[Illustration: POISON IVY

POISON SUMAC

Plants poison to the touch.]

=Yellow Lady's-Slipper=

Growing in bogs and low woods from Maine to Minnesota and Washington,
southward to Georgia and Missouri, there is a sweet-scented, little
yellow-and-brown flower called the yellow lady's-slipper, the plant of
which is said to have the same effect when handled as poison-ivy. This
flower is an orchid. The stalk, from one to two feet high, bears a
single blossom at the top, and the leaves, shaped and veined like those
of the lily-of-the-valley, grow alternately down the stem. The plant
does not branch. Like the ivy, the yellow lady's-slipper does not poison
every one.

I know of no other wild plants that are poisonous to the touch; the
following will poison only if taken inwardly.

=Deadly Nightshade=

To the nightshade family belong plants that are poisonous and plants
that are not, but the thrilling name, deadly nightshade, carries with it
the certainty of poison.

The plant is an annual and you may often find it grow