Some prairie flameleaf sumac leaves get redder than others

Like the previous photograph, this one is from an undeveloped property off Seton Center Parkway in northwest Austin. Unlike that picture, however, this one shows redder leaves, is from November 13, and was taken with an iPhone 5s. I wasn’t out photographing at the time but had merely stopped by on my way home from something else to check how the prairie flameleaf sumac, Rhus lanceolata, was coming along, and that’s why I didn’t have my usual heavy-duty (and just plain heavy) camera equipment with me. I’d say the phone did a commendable job, wouldn’t you? Notice how the fruit clusters darken as they age and dry out.

This is the fourth and penultimate* episode in a miniseries that is carrying prairie flameleaf sumac from the beginning of August through the latter part of November.

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* Penultimate means ‘next to the last.’ Some people have misunderstood the word and think it means ‘ultimate, utmost, greatest, best.’

© 2014 Steven Schwartzman