Friday, July 24, 2009

Winged Sumac


Rhus copallinum, Winged Sumac, is a showy roadside shrub/tree at this time of year. Leaves are small, clustered and have a glossy shine that make it stand out in the forest. Those lime green bunches you see are actually the flowers.


Though it can grow to be a about 25 foot high, it's more commonly found as a shrub growing along the forest edge. This is a plant that really takes over after a forest fire but those don't happen as often.


The common name refers to leaves that grow right along the stems.


This is not the easiest plant to photograph and have the images turn out well. Being at the forest edge leaves a lot of dark backgrounds, and the shiny leaves show up bright white. On top of that I'm trying macro photography with bees flying around.


This is probably one of the better shots I took, though the focus is more on the leaf then the bee and that's not what I was going for. I'll post more pictures tomorrow.