The Sumachs are not the objects of any special admiration. They are not
the favorites of nature or of art, neither adding dignity to the
landscape nor expression to the canvas of the painter. But they blend
their fine pinnate foliage with the wayside shrubbery, varying its
appearance by their original habit of growth; and they are seen
springing in little groups upon sandy plains, where they relieve the eye
that might otherwise be wearied with the monotonous waste of sorrel and
tufted andropogons. They display many of the characters of the tropical
plants in their long compound leaves, and in the exuberant growth of
their recent branches. They are distinguished by their milky, resinous,
and in some cases poisonous sap.