Woohoo, after a many-year break, this blog is going again. With the 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic, it's time to #ExploreYourBackyard. So instead of the far-flung trips I had planned, I'm learning my backyard and nearby areas super well.
That includes documenting what plants are flowering. (Check out the Snake Valley Trails Partnership Facebook Page for some recent finds.)
The yellow on this bush called my attention on a recent walk on the Sagebrush Discovery Trail. I went over and took a look. All I saw were tiny flowers in clusters at the ends of the twigs. No leaves. But I remembered something about where these bushes were. This had to be Skunkbush Sumac (Rhus trilobata), the bush that has bright red berries and the leaves turn beautiful colors in the fall!
It's in the Sumac or Cashew Family (Anacardiaceae), the same family as poison ivy. Fortunately, the bush doesn't (usually) lead to a rash. You can see the lobed, compound leaves (in threes, just like poison ivy).
The leaves are gorgeous in the fall.
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