Anacardiaceae (the cashew family)•Large family, mainly tropical• Trees, shrubs, and vines•Some species produce urushiol• Cut stems all exude sap and many are used in drugs, dyes, waxes, •In this family are pistachio, cashew, and mango• Alternate leaves

The Sumacs

smooth sumacRhus glabra

winged sumacRhus copallina

staghorn sumacRhus typhina

(Anacardiaceae)

poison-ivy Toxicodendron radicans (Anacardiaceae)

• Alternate, plamately compound leaves with 3 leaflets• Serrate margins• Naked brown bud looks like a finger• Aerial roots• White drupes• Irritating oil

Lauraceae- the laurel family • Family comprises over 3,000 flowering plants in over 50 genera• Occur mainly in warm temperate and tropical regions • Most are aromatic evergreen trees or shrubs (Sassafras)• Fruit is a one seeded fleshy fruit with a hard layer (drupe)• Many Lauraceae contain high concentrations of essential oils,

some valued for spices and perfumes

Best known species of particular commercial valueCinnamomum (cinnamon)Laurus (bay laurel)Persea (avocado)

sassafras Sassafras albidum (Lauraceae)

• Leaves heteromorphic, smell when crushed• Green new growth, 60-degree branching• Large green ovoid buds, very large terminal• Orange deeply furrowed bark that smells like fruit loops when cut• Dark blue 1/3” drupes on red stems• Good wildlife value• Not commercially important• Sassafras tea• Inhabits moist to dry woods, hedgerows• Range is eastern USA and all of Delaware

spicebush Lindera benzoin (Lauraceae)

• Multi-stemmed understory shrub• Grows on moist to wet sites• Leaves entire, glabrous, elliptical, strong smell when crushed• Flowers in yellow clusters in early spring• Fruit = red drupes in late summer and fall• Extremely common on its habitat throughout Delaware

Rosaceae (the rose family)

• Large cosmopolitan family – more than 100 genera and thousands of trees, shrubs, and herbs- most are deciduous• Alternate leaf arrangement, margin most often serrate •Paired stipules are generally present as well as glands on petiole• Includes many species that produce fruits commercially

Apples, pears, quinces, apricots, plums, cherries, peaches, raspberries, loquats, strawberries, almonds

• Many planted ornamentally in DE• Some members have valuable wood• Fleshy fruits eaten by birds, rodents, and deer (and seeds can be spread this way)

downy serviceberry Amelanchier arborea (Rosaceae)

hawthorn Crataegus spp. (Rosaceae)

beach plum Prunus maritima (Rosaceae)

apple / crabapple Malus spp. (Rosaceae)

pear Pyrus spp. (Rosaceae)

black cherry Prunus serotina (Rosaceae)

rose Rosa spp. (Rosaceae)

brambles, blackberry, etc.Rubus spp. (Rosaceae)