A N F Keys
1 Leaves compound
2 Leaflets 9−30+, entire to small-toothed on margins; stamens (8)10 in 2 whorls; evergreen (trees) .. Schinus
2' Leaflets 3(5), often with broad teeth or shallowly lobed; stamens 5−6 in 1 whorl; winter-deciduous (shrubs to woody climbers)
3 Leaflets sessile or nearly so and arising from one point, mostly dull on upper surface; panicles terminal with clustered flowers; flowers ± sessile, appearing before leaves, functionally bisexual; drupelike fruits strongly aromatic, fleshy, 5−6 × 7 × 4 mm, bright red-orange to orangish or yellowish, pilose and viscid with glandular hairs .. Rhus aromatica [pics]
3' Leaflets mostly having well-defined petiolules and not arising from one point, often glossy on upper surface; panicles axillary and open; flowers on pedicels, appearing with leaves, functionally of only 1 sex on each individual; drupelike fruits leathery, 4−5 × 4−6.5 mm, creamy white, longitudinally ridged, glabrous .. Toxicodendron diversilobum [pics]
1' Leaves simple
4 Inflorescence with relatively slender branchlets; flowering during early and mid-summer; drupelike fruits 2.5−3 mm diameter, initially deep red-purple aging white, glabrous .. Malosma laurina [pics]
4' Inflorescence with stiff branchlets; flowering late winter to late spring; drupelike fruits 4.5−9 mm diameter, dark red to rose or brown, pilose and viscid with glandular hairs .. Rhus
1 Plants in clumps with dense branches, winter-deciduous; leaves 3-foliolate, blades short-tomentose; flowers always functionally bisexual; petals ± yellow .. Rhus aromatica [pics]
1' Plants solitary, evergreen and sclerophyllous; leaves simple, blades essentially glabrous; individuals with all pistillate flowers (gynodioecious); petals white to dark pink or rose
2 Blades flattish, obtuse at tip; petioles mostly < 13 mm long; flowers 7−8 mm across; petals not short-pilose on upper surface; drupelike fruit compressed rhombic-ellipsoid, 7−11 × 7.5−9 mm, dark red to reddish brown but eventually whitish from swollen, glandular hairs .. Rhus integrifolia [pics]
2' Blades often folded upward from midrib, acute at tip; petioles 8−30 mm long; flowers 3.5−5(−7) mm across; petals short-pilose on upper surface; drupelike fruit asymmetrically compressed-ovoid, ca. 7−8 × 6 mm, blushed red to rose .. Rhus ovata [pics]
1 Terminal branches lax, often pendent; leaflets < 12 mm wide and longest at the base, lateral leaflets > 10, mostly subopposite or alternate along rachis; branchlets on staminate panicles with pulvinus; calyx lobed to midpoint, lobes obtuse .. Schinus molle [pics]
1' Terminal branches stiff, not pendent; leaflets 12−35 mm wide and longest at the tip, lateral leaflets 4−10, always in pairs along rachis; branchlets on staminate panicles not thickened at base; calyx lobes 2× tube, acute .. Schinus terebinthifolius [pics]
The text of the above keys used with permission from
A Naturalist's Flora of the Santa Monica Mountains and Simi Hills, California
© Copyright
Barry A. Prigge and Arthur C. Gibson
2013