Songbird migration is over so I’m paying more attention to flowers even though there aren’t very many in early June. April’s woodland flowers are long past and July’s field flowers aren’t here yet. Even so, I found a few blooms last week in Schenley and Frick Parks.

Above, an ornamental mock orange shrub bloomed along the Lower Panther Hollow Trail in Schenley Park. Below, daisies are blooming at the tiny meadow next to Bartlett Playground.

In Frick Park I found cow parsnip (Heracleum maximum) along Lower Nine Mile Run Trail.

This native plant can grow 7 feet tall. Here I stand by one at Mingo Creek in 2013.

Because their flowers and leaves are similar, some people mistake cow parsnip for giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum), an invasive plant from Eurasia that’s so toxic it causes nasty skin rashes if you merely brush against it. Fortunately it’s easy to tell the difference by looking at the stems and leaf joints.

Cow parsnip is all green. (2 photos above)

Giant hogweed has purple blotches on its stem and leaf joints, just like poison hemlock. (2 photos below)

Both plants are so big that you can identify them from afar before getting too close.

Green is good. Purple is bad. The flowers are white on both of them.

(photos by Kate St. John except where noted in the caption which is linked to the originals on Wikimedia Commons)

Everything’s green and the leaves are big. Suddenly the woods feel closer, shadier and sometimes dark. This week a just few plants attracted my attention.

Above the alien “weed” corn speedwell (Veronica arvensis) has a delicate beauty when seen at close range. It blooms in fields and rocky places from spring through fall.

Below, a small tuliptree (Liriodendron tulipifera) at Deer Lakes Park has leaves almost larger than the tree itself.

Black locusts (Robinia pseudoacacia) bloomed in the City of Pittsburgh last week and some have already begun to drop their flowers. This bunch caught the early morning light on Tuesday in Greenfield.

(photos by Kate St. John)

26 May 2020

Memorial Day was certainly the official start of summer with a high of 86 degrees F yesterday, 13 degrees above normal. The signs of spring are long gone, replaced by a lot of leaves.

With spring on the wane there are fewer plants to attract attention. Here’s what I’ve seen in Schenley Park, May 10 to 24.

• Golden alexanders (Zizia aurea), a perennial in the carrot family.
• Squaw root (Conopholis americana), a non-photosynthesizing parasite on oak roots. This is a banner year for squaw root in Schenley.
• Columbine (Aquilegia sp.) is mildly toxic to animals, which explains why the deer haven’t eaten it.
• Pawpaw (Asimina triloba) flowering on May 17. The pawpaws in Schenley grow in single-plant clumps so the flowers are not fertilized and rarely produce fruit.
• Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum) flowering on May 10, also toxic to deer.

This beautiful flower hides under the mayapple’s leaves.

(photos by Kate St. John)

26 April 2020

April 19-25 was another good week for beautiful flowers and new leaves in southwestern Pennsylvania. Check the captions on my photos for species, date and location. Thanks to John English for the white violet from Frick Park.

BONUS! There’s mystery plant to identify at the end. Yes, it’s probably an alien.

In Frick Park yesterday, John English found white violets.

Mystery plant shown below. … By the way, thank you for your suggestions regarding the iNaturalist app. I don’t use it to identify things because I get sucked into email/messaging when I use my cellphone outdoors. There’s a side benefit, though. You have a puzzle to solve.

Question: Can you tell me what plant this is? I photographed these new leaves at Boyce-Mayview Park because I love their wrinkled texture. They remind me of an invasive ornamental shrub called Jetbead which is currently blooming in Schenley Park but this shrub has no flowers. Please leave a comment with your answer.

ANSWER! This is Viburnum plicatum otherwise known as Snowball bush. It’s from Japan. Thank you, Dianne Machesney.

(photos by Kate St. John & John English)

18 April 2020:

On my solitary walks during the COVID-19 shutdown I find more and more beauty as Spring comes to Pittsburgh. Here are a few of the flowers and trees that bloomed this week. See the captions for species, location and date.

Frost damage: Yellow buckeyes are some of the earliest trees to leaf out but they pay a price if the temperature falls below freezing as it did this week. The early leaves are wilted on this yellow buckeye in Schenley Park.

And finally, a mystery flower in a waste place in Schenley Park. I think it’s an alien. Can you tell me what it is? (Newcomb’s: 4 petals with alternate, toothed leaves). ANSWER: Thanks to Dianne Machesney. This is Field Pennycress and yes it’s an alien.

(photos by Kate St. John)

11 April 2020:

During the COVID-19 shutdown my daily treat is to go outdoors, watch birds, and take photos of flowers. Here’s a bit of beauty to brighten your Saturday.

Above, blue violets in the grass in Schenley Park. Below, a selection of photos from Raccoon Creek Wildflower Reserve.

(photos by Kate St. John)

7 April 2020

If you live in the southern or eastern U.S., spring leaf out has come 10 to 20 days early this year. The anomalies are evident in dark red on yesterday’s National Phenology Network map (USANPN).

Spring is at least 10 days early in Pittsburgh. I’ve noticed yellow buckeye trees (Aesculus flava) on the south-facing slopes are in full leaf, …

… choke cherries and crabapples are in full bloom, …

… and the willows glow with pale green leaves in Schenley Park.

Interestingly, a few places in the Midwest and south central Great Plains have a slightly delayed spring (blue on the map). It all depends on where you live.

How early is spring in your neighborhood?

(photos by Kate St. John, maps from USA National Phenology Network)