Common Name: SUMAC or CASHEW FAMILY
Habit: Shrub, tree; generally dioecious or flowers bisexual and unisexual; resin clear, often weathering black, generally aromatic, latex milky or 0. Leaf: simple to ternate- or odd-pinnate-compound, alternate, deciduous or evergreen; stipules 0. Inflorescence: raceme or panicle; flowers generally many. Flower: generally unisexual, radial; sepals generally 5, base generally +- fused; petals 5, generally > sepals, free; (perianth parts 1--7 in Pistacia); stamens 4--7 or 10, vestigial in pistillate flowers; ovary superior, vestigial or 0 in staminate flowers, subtended by +- lobed, disk-like nectary, chamber generally 1, ovule generally 1, styles 1--3. Fruit: drupe-like, generally +- flat, sticky or not, hairs short or 0; pulp +- resinous, aromatic or not.
Genera In Family: 70+ genera, +- 850 species: tropics, warm temperate; some ornamental (Rhus, Schinus), cultivated for fruit (Anacardium, cashew; Mangifera, mango; Pistacia, pistachio). Toxicity: TOXIC: many genera produce contact dermatitis.
eFlora Treatment Author: John M. Miller & Dieter H. Wilken, except as noted
Scientific Editor: Bruce G. Baldwin, Thomas J. Rosatti.

Habit: Tree, branches ending in thorn or not; dioecious. Leaf: simple or compound; leaflets 5--20, +- leathery, +- resinous, entire to toothed. Inflorescence: panicle, axillary or terminal, open to +- dense; pedicels short. Flower: sepals, petals +- white to +- yellow; stamens 10, 2 whorls of 5, vestigial in pistillate flowers; styles 3, fused at base. Fruit: drupe, spheric, leathery, shiny, generally pink to red; pulp resinous to oily, aromatic.
Species In Genus: +- 25 species: tropics, warm temperate South America. Etymology: (Greek: ancient name)
Reference: Carmello-Guerreiro & Paoli 2002 Brazil Arch Biol Technol 45:73--79
Unabridged Reference: Las Penas et al. 2006 Arnaldoa 13(2):270--275; Randall 2000 In: Bossard et al., eds, Invasive Plants of California's Wildlands; Hoffmann 1998 Flora Silvestre de Chile, Zona Central, Claudio Gay Fundacion, Santiago; Sanders 1996 Madroño 43:530; Wannan & Quinn 1991 Bot J Linn Soc 107:349--385; Wannan & Quinn 1990 Bot J Linn Soc 103:225--252; Barkley 1957 Lilloa 28:5--110; Barkley 1944 Brittonia 5:160--198