Rhus trichocarpa Miq.

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Rhus trichocarpa' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/rhus/rhus-trichocarpa/). Accessed 2024-03-28.

Genus

Synonyms

  • Toxicodendron trichocarpum (Miq.) Kuntze

Glossary

apex
(pl. apices) Tip. apical At the apex.
apomixis
Reproduction without fertilisation usually by the asexual production of seeds (agamospermy) (as in e.g. Citrus Sorbus). Includes vegetative reproduction (stolons rhizomes suckers etc.) (as in e.g. Ulmus).
androdioecious
With only male or only hermaphrodite flowers on individual plants.
drupe
A fleshy dehiscent or indehiscent fruit with one to several seeds each enclosed in a hard endocarp (the stone).
entire
With an unbroken margin.
ovate
Egg-shaped; broadest towards the stem.

References

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Rhus trichocarpa' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/rhus/rhus-trichocarpa/). Accessed 2024-03-28.

A deciduous tree of slender habit, 20 to 25 ft high, or sometimes a bush 5 to 12 ft high. Leaves 12 to 20 in. long, with thirteen to seventeen leaflets, which are broadly ovate, entire, 112 to 212 in. long, largest towards the apex of the leaf, very downy on both sides. Flowers in slender, downy, long-stalked panicles, inconspicuous. Fruit a large, yellowish, prickly drupe, which is not fleshy and sheds its outer coat when ripe.

Native of Japan, where it is common throughout the country, of the S. Kuriles, Korea, E. and Central China; introduced to the USA from Japan by Prof. Sargent, and thence to Kew a few years later; reintroduced by Wilson from Japan in 1914 and from Korea in 1918. Although often a tree in the wild, it is usually seen in gardens as a sparsely branched, slow-growing shrub 5 to 8 ft high. Although the species is said to be dioecious, this form produces large clusters of fruits, most of which are fertile. They may of course be the result of apomixis. On plants grown in a sunny place the leaves colour brilliant orange or scarlet in the autumn. Although perhaps less venomous than R. radicans and its immediate allies, this species belongs to the same group and should be handled with caution.