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Photos: A President's Day drive through Pembroke

By Howard B. Owens

A beautiful clear morning -- hard to believe it was 21 degrees at 9 a.m. when I headed out for a bit of a drive to see what sort of pictures I might be able to take.

Above, a barn on Indian Falls Road just west of North Pembroke Road.

Barn at the intersection of Indian Falls Road and Little Indian Falls Road.

A tree in a field off Phelps Road.

A barn on Gorton Road, taken from Phelps Road.

I need somebody to ID this plant for me, please.

Telephone pole on Pratt Road.

Lisa Falkowski

Howard - the plant: a milk weed/thistle? I don't know for sure, but that is what it reminds me of. Beautiful pics. It's a gorgeous day.

Feb 20, 2012, 1:02pm Permalink
C. M. Barons

It's red sumac or staghorn sumac. The drupes (cluster of berries) can be boiled into a tea that tastes very similar to lemonade. The same "tea" with melted paraffin floating on top was used as a bath for animal traps. Trappers dipped their traps into the brew to remove human scent and add a waterproofing coat of wax. Red sumac is distinguished from white sumac which like poison ivy contains urushiol. White sumac has white drupes (berries) instead of red.

Feb 20, 2012, 2:07pm Permalink

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