Plants

At reference 1, I noticed some staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina) in East Street, wondering vaguely about what happened to the flowers and the subsequent stags' horns. Returned to the fray a day or so later to notice what I took to be the relics of flowers past, orange spotted at their bases in the snap above.

With that above being taken from reference 2, according to which 'Flowers occur from May through July and fruit ripens from June through September in this species' native range', which does not accord with what we have in East Street. Maybe the relics are from last year? In which case, where are this year's flowers? Maybe I have got it all wrong.

Earlier in the year, I was noticing hedge mustard everywhere, for example at reference 3. I thought the dried up plant snapped above might have been one of its relics. Subsequently noticing it all over the place. More bean-like seed pods.

Last up a very striking shoot off a blackberry growing by the side of what is now the Travis Perkins shed across the path from the gas depot. The telephone had some trouble focussing over the whole of its considerable length. Very striking both because of its length and for its straightness, straight as an arrow as they say, not really visible in the snap above.

A closer shot of the left hand end in the first snap. A fine example of alternating laterals off the primary - also very straight. One supposes that the angle is somehow genetically organised. With the leader disappearing underneath the air conditioning unit on the left.

I shall try to keep an eye on it.

PS: there is an extensive caption to the snap from Wikipedia, originally in Russian, originally from Moscow. I learn, inter alia, that '... In both French and German, the common name of the species (Sumac vinaigrier, Essigbaum) means 'vinegar tree'. The name 'sumac' comes from the fact that its acidic fruit were added to vinegar to intensify its acidity ... The fruits (drupes) of the genus Rhus are ground into a reddish-purple powder used as a spice in Middle Eastern cuisine to add a lemony taste to salads or meat....'. Where are the fruits?

References

Reference 1: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2024/08/around-epsom.html.

Reference 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhus_typhina.

Reference 3: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2024/06/nil-trolley.html.