Russet Marcescence

Russet is a word I like to say. It is a color I love. It is a potato I eat. It is an apple I never see in the grocery store. It is an archaic word for rustic. It is a coarse, reddish brown, homespun fabric and clothes made with such fabric. It is the color of hair I wish I had been born with.

And while the leaves of the maples, willows, cottonwoods, birches and ash trees nearby have come down in the wind and rain, the Pin Oak's russet leaves still shine in the sun.
Which is how I discovered marcescence. I wondered why the oak leaves stayed on the tree until spring. Marcescence is the retention of dead plant organs that are normally shed. There's a whole science attached to that if you're interested.

So now I not only like saying russet, I have russet marcescence to roll off my tongue.