Fields of color

I've been seeing these colorful spots in fields in the last week or so and decided to pull off for a closer look. I thought that they were a small variety of sumac, but now I'm unsure what these are.

Here is a closer look. Any ideas?

Here is one of the fields. I noticed that my closeup had leaves changing to yellow. I will go back to see if the field turns from redish to yellow. It could be really awesome.

Yup, this has been the very best sumac color year I've ever seen - and not just the reds like you have here, but yellow, orange, salmon - just about every bright fall color there is has been displayed by the sumacs this year. They normally turn in September - all the rain knocked them back. I'm also seeing some pretty stunning red maples just now turning. All that darn rain...

Sure looks like winged sumac to me, Mike. This is a beautiful place to keep an eye on for sure. If I'm not mistaken, I think they turn to yellow first, then to red. And they do it kinda like aspens - in communities. I posted a similar shot here last year if you are interested in reading Don's description.

Nice work!

Winged sumac has wings...these guys have not learned to fly yet so are just the normal brilliant kind. I've photographed plants this fall that had bright red, yellow, and orange all on the same plant. They have really gone crazy this year...

Wow! Nice capture Mike. As you've demonstrated, there's still a lot of isolated color in the area. I'm still seeing a lot of color in the River Valley around Fort Smith and Van Buren.

Winged Sumac. Learned something new! I wasn't a member at this time last year, so I missed the image that Bill posted last fall. They sure are pretty upclose. I plan to revisit this spot and look for others with a better background.

Thanks for the info guys!

Here's a cropped view showing the "winged" along with a vine that's climbing up for a better view.

Actually you have both species in this post - the first close-up was of normal sumac - note the serrated edges of the leaves and no wings. This new post has smooth leaves plus the wings. Two different species. Unless both are possible on the same plant? I'm sure Don knows all...

Nice color, Mike.

It's so red, it looks like poinsettias! Guess I will have to find myself out there soon. Nice find Mr. Mike

What a beautiful red Mike.

Hi Mike,

It's like Tim says, the first photo is of smooth sumac, Rhus glabra, so named for its smooth (hair free) stem that holds the leaflets. The second photo has winged sumac, Rhus copallina, so named for its fringe of leafy material along each side of the stem. The stem is also hairy, at least when it first emerges. In the third picture, the winged sumac is intertwined with passion flower, Passiflora incarnata. For more information on the passion flower, see p. 209 of my Ozark Wildflowers book.

Best,
Don

You mean I got one right? First time for everything. I just knew that first photo had no stinking wings!

Yep, wings, we don't need no stink'n wings!!