Nyssa sinensis....a prematurely colored leaf falls, impaling itself on a Carex 'Ice Dance' leaf. What are the odds?

I could drop this leaf from 20 feet a thousand thousand times without hitting this. I guess this is just further proof that God has mad skills. In case we needed it.

I love Nyssas, native and Asian. Good simple trees with great fall color, deep red, and.....their fruit is a major food source for bears when it ripens. If you saw my recent picture of fox droppings composed almost entirely of plum pits.....Joan and Hannah and I saw bear stool in Bear Meadows bog that were their functional equivalent substituting Nyssa seeds for Plum pits. Minimal matrix.

The only downside is the tendency towards leaf spot that so often disfigures our native trees before they can attain their full fall glory. It's worth taking a chance. Breeders are working to produce resistant varieties. This Chinese plant seems clean but maybe don't run out and cut down natives to replace with Asians. More research.