Anacardiaceae (cashew family)

Question 1

What family is the anacardiaceae?

Answer 1

Cashew family

Question 2

Key features:

Answer 2

• leaves and stems containing secretory cavaties with resin or latex
• flowers aggregated into a raceme of panicles
• fruit usually fleshy, a drupe

Question 3

Four species native to MN:

Answer 3

Staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina), Smooth sumac (Rhus glabra), Poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans), and poison sumac (T. vernix)

Question 4

Is rhus aromatica (fragrant sumac) short ot rall?

Answer 4

Short

Question 5

Whats a quick way to identify rhus aromatica?

Answer 5

It’s smell! (sometimes like carrots)

Question 6

Which is more common in US/MN, staghorn sumac or smooth sumac?

Answer 6

Smooth sumac (Rhus glabra)

Question 7

Delicious members of the anacardiaceae family?

Answer 7

Cashew, mango, pistachio

Question 8

Whats a “burndown” shrub?

Answer 8

It can freeze to the crown in winter, be cut down in the Spring and it will regrow and flower that same summer

Question 9

What’s poison ivy look like?

Answer 9

• sparse groundcover
• loose shrub
• a vine in trees
• leaves of 3, shiny almost oily

Question 10

What part of poison ivy or sumac causes “contact dermatitis”?

Answer 10

ALL PARTS

Question 11

Why are staghorn and smooth sumac not such great plants for the managed landscape?

Answer 11

Free suckering! so they can move around

Question 12

Why is stan excited about the potential for American smoketree as a landscape plant material?

Answer 12

• Smoky flower look
• naturalizes on dry limestone outcroppings (like a parking lot island)

Question 13

Whats a provenance and what’s it have to do with plant performance in a landscape?

Answer 13

• source of origin
• further north the provenance the more cold hardy the plant will be
• important to know the provenance to try and get seeds from somewhere that will have good characteristics for what you’re trying to do