I thought I was developing a theme around thorns by the second time I was taken in by some, but really, it was only two plants plus some sharp leaf edges. We'd never noticed this Gamblea evodiifolia, which Nadia recognized right away as being in the Araliaceae family. [Edited]: I meant to include this eFloras.org link to illustrations. Shortly after, we had an encounter with the Zanthoxylum schinifolium, with not very photogenic fruits (must be fruits - it had flowers in early September), but the thorns didn't mind being photographed. This Ilex latifolia is supposed to have "serrated but not spiny margins" (Wikipedia), but they felt sort of spiny. (Now I'm segueing to Autumn colour - and to the North Garden) The smooth edges of the Ilex verticillata were very different from the previous one. Leaves are turning on the Cornus amomum ssp. obliqua. And Staphylea pinnata. One of my favourite trees, the Pseudolarix amabilis, is looking pretty spectacular. For knock-your-socks-off colour, it's hard right now to beat the Virginia Creeper - Parthenocissus quinquefolia.
