Mountain Mahogany

In our area of Colorado it is also known as "deer pizza," they love it!
It is a very common shrub from 5,000 to 8,000 feet of elevation. The shrubs put on a beautiful display of tiny red and yellow trumpet flowers. A month or so later the flowers will develop seeds with feathery tails. The elk and deer browse on the twigs.
This morning my car battery died while I was at the grocery store. Fortunately I could walk the cold food home to be refrigerated and then call a friend to borrow her car to get to my first PT appointment for my sprained ankle. After that I picked her up to give my car a jump, and off we went to an auto shop to get a new battery. While I was waiting for the work to be finished, we took a hike where I saw these beautiful feathery seeds. Luckily there is a BBQ restaurant next to the auto shop so I sprung for a take out dinner, and now we are each at home enjoying a treat.
Long day....