A Chemical Study of Rhus glabra

The Anacardiacae, or Sumach family, numbers, about four hundred species. Most of these, however, are tropical; only a few grow in the northern states. Rhus glabra, the one under investigation, is abundant and is one of the hardy species. It grows from two to twenty feet high. The flowers are small and of a greenish-red color. They grow in clusters from three to eight inches long. The fruit consists of red berries subglobular in shape and about 3 m.m. in diameter. They consist of the seed proper within a coating of felt-like husk which contains all of the coloring matter and nearly all of the acid present in the seed