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Show Poisonous Plants. There are no beautiful poisonous flowers native to this country. There are only three plants that are really poisonous to the touch. They all belong be-long to the Rhus family, and resemble one another in their uninteresting clusters clus-ters af dull greenish gray berries. Two of them, poison ivy and poison sumac, are found in the eastern part of the couutry, and poison oak grows on the Pacific coast. Poison ivy is a common vine that climbs over rocks, and that in some shady places covers the ground with luxuriant leaves. Occasionally, in fertile fer-tile spots, it will rc.ee branches like shrubs up over tne rocky supports; elsewhere it clings to the bark of trees and climbs high. 1 Its flowers and berries are always in dull clusters, but its leaves may become be-come brilliant red and brown in the autumn aut-umn sun. Do not pick leas e s that grow in threes on a vine, but do not be afraid to gather leaves of the woodbine, which grow in clusters of five. It is difficult to distinguish poison sumac from other sumacs. Do not call it dogwood; true dogwoods have beautiful beauti-ful flowers, and are not poisonous. Poison Poi-son sumac grows like a small, branching branch-ing tree; it is the cleanest and smoothest smooth-est in leaf and branch of all the sumacs. The leaflets are long and pointed, five to eleven on one petiole. If you see little drooping clusters of greenish-white greenish-white flowers, or later the greenish little berries, do not touch anything on that shrub or tree. Poison oak does not look like any oak. It has clusters of three almost round leaves, which grow on a vine like poison poi-son ivy, or more often on a low shrub. If you see the clusters of white flowers, or berries do not touch the plant. There are many plants with sap that is more or less poisonous if it reaches a cut or abrasion. Do. not let a plant drip on a wound. There are many plants with thorns and stings that produce a painful irritation if they scratch through the skin. Pick their flowers carefully. Many beautiful flowers have sap that is more or less poisonous if swallowed. Do not ever hold flowers in your mouth. Do not give flowers to babies, for they are sure to put put them into their rnoutns, and some of our familiar flowers flow-ers have poison enough to alfect Ja baby's ba-by's healtn. There are other flowers and plants that are harmless to men, but poison ous to animals, if eaten. Many who read these lioes know the bad effects of the loco weed of the West or the lamb-kill lamb-kill of the East. In pastures where butter but-ter cups abound cattle carefully graze round them, but will not eat the flow-I flow-I ers or leaves, because of the bitter taste of the poison in them. The botanist and lover of flowers should remember two things- first, it is safe to pick any beautiful flowers; 1 second it is never safe to let its juice I touch the lips or any fles:i wound. 1 |