staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina)
native tree/shrub
pictures taken in september
staghorn sumac gets its name from the sort antler-like hairs it has on its branches! other sumacs which look similar don't have those, making it quite easy to identify even without its very distinctive fruits. its fruits are red, velvety, and cone-shaped, and they're present for a good chunk of the year - they're produced in fall and stay on the branches through the winter, even after all the leaves are gone!
staghorn sumac is very common where i live, especially around parking lots. it'll grow even in crappy dry soil nothing else can grow in and it likes full sun, so sun-blasted dumps and parking lots are just perfect. i think it's pretty - its crooked branching growth habits remind me of old chinese landscape paintings, and its leaves turn very bright shades of red and orange and yellow in the fall. they don't get very big even when left to grow as much as they like, in terms of trunk circumference or in height, but they will sprout sizeable colonies to take up space in.
the fruits can be made into dye or into a lemonade-like drink called sumac-ade! the dye color seems fairly desaturated from what i've seen, a more gentle orangey-pinkish-brownish color. i haven't tried making the drink, but if i do i'll update this page with a report.