like good lipstick

These staghorn sumac fruits have survived the winter, still holding onto most of their color. Staghorn sumac is in my top five. I keep coming back to it over and over. I  love the velvety stems, the compound pinnate leaves, and the way they the two-toned uppers and lowers flutter in the summer breeze. I love their unruly branching, and the way they form colonies that cover whole hillsides. I especially love their fall colors–always first, and always spectacular. I love the red seedheads of their fruit that start out a soft pinkish-green in summer and darken to bright red in autumn. And finally I love that those red staghorns remain all winter, catching the low-angle winter light,  looking like torches, and adding much appreciated color to our winter landscape. And they are native. Thank you sumac!

staghorn sumac seedheads (Rhus typhina)