Agarita turning colors

Click for a sharper view.

If flameleaf sumac provides one of the largest displays of cooling-weather color in central Texas, agarita provides only an inch or two at a time when one or more of its three spine-tipped leaflets turn red. Formerly classified as Berberis trifoliolata and now as Mahonia trifoliolata, this shrub can also produce colorful leaflets in seasons other than fall, but always in bits and pieces; I’ve never seen a sizable part of an agarita turn colors all at once.

This view is from the Upper Bull Creek Greenbelt on December 18, 2013.

© 2014 Steven Schwartzman