Monday, October 27, 2014

OHC: The Sumac Shrub





For 3 years now I have wondered and wondered what shrub this could be. I'm not great at identification and always doubt whether I have made a correct identification or not. Most of what the girls and I have learnt about nature is due to following Barb's challenges.

It's the rich, flaming autumn colours that caught my eye initially. To be honest I have not noticed it over the winter, spring and summer months although I will be sure to do so from now on :), But in autumn the Sumac stands out as a shining star amongst it's fellow shrubs and trees.


So it was with much delight that courtesy of Barb's Sumac Study I have been able to identify this pretty shrub.

They are all over our neighbourhood, mostly in gardens. I have not seen any growing out in the woodlands or countryside. We popped out to our nearest neighboring garden who's Sumac grew along their boundary - we really don't want to be found in someones  garden observing their plants - lol - we would be sure to be labelled as quite barmy and likely to get a flea in our ears :)



This particular Sumac had lost most of it's leaves, but others in the neighbourhood were still adorned in their glorious autumnal cloaks. We noticed the 'Stag-horn' effect of the branches, and loved the silhouette it created without it's leaves. It certainly makes quite a statement with and without it's autumnal splendour.

Our Sumac was loaded with the dried remains of it's summer flowers - no fruit for us to observe on our shrub. We were able to see the velvety branches and able to relate to both the 'Velvet Sumac' and the 'Stag-horn Sumac' names given in The Handbook of Nature Study.


We plucked a frond of leaves and a branch with flowers on it and headed home to make our journal entries.

Miss J-L's page
Miss V-L's page

Thanks to Barb and the Outdoor Hour Challenge for another wonderful Study and for shedding light on my mystery tree :)



7 comments:

  1. What a wonderful way to spend time, learning together.

    ReplyDelete
  2. So excited for you! I love being able to identify a local shrub! You did a great job on your journals...just lovely. Thanks for sharing your entry with the OHC Blog Carnival.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Continue to watch it throughout the winter, birds will come to eat the seeds from those "cones". When I was young, the sumac and the mayapple were my favorite plants and I liked to pretend that I had discovered them and would go about my days documenting all the places I found one!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes we will Amanda. I love the the OHC has made us aware of so many different plants. ;)

      Delete
  4. So glad that you were able to identify your shrub! This is a great study of your sumac. Thank you for sharing your entry with the OHC Blog Carnival.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Lovely journal entry. We have a similar tree here called the rhus but it's highly toxic - a shame because it's quite striking.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Isn't it great when you discover something right under your nose! Love your girls paintings x

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to comment. I appreciate each and every one left for me.