Rhus punjabensis J.L.Stewart ex Brandis

Rhus potaninii is closely related to this species, which in its typical state is a native of the N.W. Himalaya as far east as Kumaon. R. punjabensis has more hairy stems and foliage, but otherwise the two species scarcely differ. Rehder recognises a variety of R. punjabensis in China – var. sinica (Diels) Rehder & E.H.Wilson, differing from the Himalayan type in having the upper part of the rachis slightly winged and in the usually fewer and more sessile leaflets. R. potaninii is supposed to differ from this variety in being more glabrous, in having the leaflets distinctly stalked and in its unwinged leaf-rachis. But the differences are not at all clear-cut, and certainly R. potaninii cannot be reliably distinguished from R. punjabensis var. sinica by the differences given by Rehder in the key on p. 542 of the present (second) edition of his Manual. It is possible that R. punjabensis var. sinica is in cultivation in Britain from Wilson 275, collected during the first expedition for the Arnold Arboretum but, if so, it is probably by this time grown as R. potaninii.