Subkey IV. Alternate Compound-leaved Trees and Shrubs

compiled by Dave Richardson

1a. Plants prickly or thorny; leaf scars neither narrow nor half-encircling the twigs.
- 2a. Buds hidden beneath leaf scars; end buds false.....Black Locust, Robinia pseudo-acacia, (RBNPSD).
- 2b. Buds not hidden.
  - 3a. Bark very spiny; very large twice- or even thrice-compounded leaves; stout prickly stems; V-shaped leaf scars.....Hercules-Club, Aralia spinosa, (ARLSPN).
  - 3b. Smooth gray bark with scattered large corky knobs, often prickle-tipped; leaves somewhat curved and unsymmetrical....Southern Prickly Ash, Zanthoxylem/Xanthoxylem clava-herculis, (ZNTCLV).
1b. Plants without prickles or thorns; leaves only once compounded; leaflets smooth-edged and shiny, 7-31 in number; buds nearly hidden beneath the leaf stalk bases; midrib bordered by thin "wings".....Winged Sumac, Rhus copallina, (RHSCPL).