LEMONADE-BERRY. MAHOGANY.
Rhus integrifolia, Benth. and Hook. Poison-oak or Cashew Family.
Evergreen shrubs two to six feet high, becoming small trees southward. Leaves.—Alternate; short-petioled; one to three inches long; rigid; leathery. Flowers.—Of two sexes, also some perfect; in short, dense terminal clusters one to three inches long; rose-colored or white. Sepals, petals, and stamens four to nine; usually five. Petals.—Rounded; ciliate; one or two lines across. Ovary.—One-celled. Stigmas three. Fruit.—Flat; one-seeded; six lines across; red; viscid and acid. Hab.—The Coast from Santa Barbara to San Diego.
Growing everywhere upon the southern coast in great abundance, this shrub forms low, dense, wind-shorn thickets. Farther inland it rises to a height of several feet, with tough, India-rubber-like branches, and in Lower California it becomes a small tree. In its better estate it is very ornamental, especially in spring, when sprinkled with its clusters of small pink flowers. The little drupes are covered with an acid, oily substance, and have long been used by the Indians and Mexicans in the preparation of a lemonade-like drink. These people are so fond of this fruit that they dry it for winter use, grinding and roasting it as we do coffee. The wood of these shrubs is of a dark-red color, which is responsible for the common name, "mahogany."
Another Rhus very common in the valleys of Southern California is R. laurina, Nutt., usually called "sumach." It is an evergreen shrub, with smooth, lanceolate leaves, two or three inches long, exhaling a rather strong odor, considered by some like bitter almonds, and bearing dense clusters of small white flowers in midsummer. Its small drupes are only a line or two across. They are also coated with a waxen substance, and yield a pungent oil.
In the mountains from Santa Barbara to San Diego is found another species—R. ovata, Wats. This has large leathery, pointed leaves, and is known as "lemonade-and-sugar-tree," as the acid berries are coated with a sweet, waxen substance, which the Indians value as sugar. Its leaves resemble in form those of the lilacs of our gardens.