Notable plants in a diverse family include: Poison ivy, Cashew, the Sumacs, Pistachio and Mango.  Trees or shrubs each with  small flowers, highly poisonous, sometimes foul smelling resinous or milky sap.

Poison ivy is undergoing an explosive surge in range, prevalence, and toxicity worldwide, due to the particular effects of increased CO2 concentrations in Earth's atmosphere. [3]

Important commercial crops in this family include the cashew and pistachio nuts, mangos, and imbu (Spondias). Resins, oils and lacquers are obtained from plants in genus Toxicodendron. There are about 600 species in 70 genera.