9 June 2025

While this blog has been All Peregrines All The Time for the past couple of weeks, I’ve neglected flowers and phenology. Today I’m catching up with a few June blooms.

On a visit to State Game Lands 117 (SGL 117) on 1 June we saw many flowers blooming by the gravel road. The most striking was a biennial Eurasian plant called western goatsbeard or yellow salsify (Tragopogon dubius). A related species in the U.K., Tragopogon pratensis, is nicknamed Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon because it opens in the morning and closes by late afternoon. So does this one.

This deep blue flower, Virginia spiderwort (Tradescantia virginiana), has a long blooming season. I saw it at Frick Park on 19 May and yesterday at Schenley.

Common nipplewort (Lapsana communis) is a Eurasian member of the aster family that’s become naturalized in North America. Its flowers look like hawkweed but not its leaves.

Also seen at SGL 117 on 1 June, a sometimes invasive plant called bird’s-foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) or “eggs and bacon.” The first name describes its leaves, the second name its flowers.

Topping off the invasive plants in Schenley Park is this Eurasian plant, goutweed (Aegopodium podagraria) or ground elder. It was blooming yesterday in heavy rain.