Category Archives: Plants & Fungi

plants & fungi

Various Plants Respond to Drought

Plants & Fungi, Weather & Sky
Withered orange jewelweed with yellowing leaves, Schenley Park, 28 Aug 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

7 September 2025

Some plants in Pittsburgh’s parks are feeling our moderate drought more than others. Here’s how a few of them have responded to the lack of rain.

Orange jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) is a native annual that grows in damp areas such as creek beds and ditches. The flower pictured at top has its roots in the creek bed of Phipps Run in Schenley Park where a stand of orange jewelweed looked healthy until the end of August. By the 28th this flower was shriveled and its leaves were turning yellow at the edges.

I know this because I took a photo of a nearby flower on 23 August (oval-shaped photo below). Six days before my photo it had rained 0.64 inches and the creek was flowing. By 28 August (photo at top) there had no rain for 11 days and the creek was dry.

Orange jewelweed, Schenley Park, 23 Aug 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

By 31 August, there was still no rain and all the jewelweed looked pitiful.

Wilted orange jewelweed, Schenley Park, 31 Aug 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

Schenley Park’s false sunflowers (Heliopsis helianthoides) normally look healthy into early fall, even though they are always plagued by aphids. This year the blooms look beaten up. Have the aphids sucked out all their juices?

Aphids and small black ants on wilted false sunflower, 29 Aug 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

Otherplants are

Late boneset (Eupatorium serotinum) is a native perennial that’s not so picky about moisture so it’s flourishing in Schenley right now. It also does well because deer don’t eat it. Late boneset contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids.

Late boneset, Schenley Park, 31 Aug 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

Bittersweet nightshade (Solanum dulcamara), native to Eurasia and Africa, can grow in either dry or moist locations. This one managed to find enough water to set fruit. Wikipedia says its fruit is 84.1% water.

Fruits of bittersweet nightshade, Pittsburgh, 4 Sep 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

deertongue has sturdy thick leaves https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dichanthelium_clandestinum

Deertongue grass, Schenley Park, 31 Aug 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

I used to think three-seeded mercury (Acalypha rhomboidea) was non-native because was so good at invading my garden. Instead it is native and versatile and is thriving right now at Schenley.

Three-seeded mercury, Schenley Park, 31 Aug 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

Some plants are coping with drought by luckily taking root on the mudflat at the mouth of Nine Mile Run at Duck Hollow. The native plant sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale) and the tropical South American plant purpletop vervain (Verbena bonariensis) set down roots along the Monongahela River after a flood deposited them there. They are are doing fine right now but if there’s another flood they’ll be swept away.

Sneezeweed on the mudflat at Duck Hollow, 1 Sept 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)
Purpletop vervain on the mudflat at Duck Hollow, 1 Sept 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

There’s no rain in the forecast so we’ll see more plant reactions to drought in the week to come.

Seen This Week: Many Insects

Insects, Spiders, Plants & Fungi, Schenley Park
What moth? Frick, 28 August 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

30 August 2025

This was certainly the week for insects, especially on Thursday when cold temperatures made them sluggish. Here are a few that I’ve seen this week, some of which I cannot identify.

At top, what moth is this at Frick Park on Thursday? Google Lens gives so many answers that I am not sure which one to pick.

Below, not-a-moth this is an end-banded netwing beetle (Calopteron terminale). Most, but not all photos, show a black band in the middle too.

End-banded netwing beetle, Frick, 28 August 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

An old spider web is draped like a curtain on a twig and stinging nettle in Frick Park.

Spiderweb on stinging nettle, Frick, 28 August 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

When I got back to my car there was a weevil on the window (yes, my car is dirty). I don’t know what species.

A weevil but which one? Frick, 28 August 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

Aphids have been sucking the juices out of Schenley Park’s false sunflowers for about a month now. Our abnormally dry weather makes the plants less juicy.

Aphids on false sunflower, Schenley, 29 August 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

Reminder! I’ll be leading an outing at Schenley Park tomorrow, 31 August, starting from the Schenley Park Visitors Center at 8:30am. More info here.

Can you see the hawk? We’ll look for him tomorrow. He was watching near Panther Hollow Lake yesterday.

Seen This Week: Someone Ate Crow & Other Wonders

Bird Behavior, Crows & Ravens, Plants & Fungi, Spotted Lanternflies
Someone ate crow near Heinz Chapel, 22 August 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

23 August 2025

This week someone ate crow near the Cathedral of Learning. I usually find pigeon feathers but yesterday I found a pile of crow feathers under a tree near Heinz Chapel. Who would have perched in a tree to eat crow? My guess is a red-tailed hawk. The peregrines prefer to eat high up on the Cathedral when they’re this close to home.

In other news, late summer flowers are blooming and late summer bugs are busy.

These gorgeous flowers are the reason why Japanese knotweed (Reynoutria japonica) was imported as an ornamental plant. (Hmmm, the scientific name has changed?)

Japanese knotweed in bloom, 17 August 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

Up close Indian tobacco (Lobelia inflata) shows tiny dots on the edges of its leaves, below.

Wikipedia explains: The plant is called Indian tobacco because Native Americans chewed and smoked the leaves and used it for respiratory and muscle disorders, as a purgative, and as a ceremonial medicine. Its purgative property gave it a second name: puke weed. “Consuming lobelia causes adverse effects, which may include sweating, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, tremors, rapid heartbeat, mental confusion, convulsions, hypothermia, coma, or possibly death. The root is toxic and can be fatal if eaten.”

Indian tobacco, Frick Park, 18 August 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

Ragweed (Ambrosia sp) was getting ready to bloom this week. Soon it will open and scatter its copious pollen on the wind. Maybe it has already but my nose never tells me. I am not allergic to ragweed, but don’t get me near hay.

Ragweed almost ready to bloom, 17 August 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

Spittle bugs are very busy lately. Why was this yellow jacket sipping from the spittle? Or was she sipping plant juices? Or was she eating the bugs?

Yellow jacket ?sipping? at a spittlebug site, 17 August 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

In summer 2023 when Pittsburgh had a spotted lanternfly plague, this building was one of the best places to find an infestation. Back then it was creepy how many lanternflies crawled up the foundation. This year the number is low. Only 8 in this photo. Click here to see them circled.

Spotted lanternflies climbing a building near Herrs Island, 17 August 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

Seen This Week: Many Bugs

Insects, Spiders, Plants & Fungi
Zabulon skipper on my hand, Frick Park, 7 Aug 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

9 August 2025

Such a variety of insects this week! Thursday was especially good for bugs during a short walk from the Hutchinson ball field to Commercial Street in Frick Park. When we weren’t swatting mosquitos I found five other “bugs.” Here are my best guesses at their identity. As always, please leave a comment if I got it wrong.

Above, a zabulon skipper (Poanes zabulon) flew up and perched on my right hand. I’m pretty confident with this identification because “zabs” are the only skipper species that ever lands on me. Click here to see one on my left thumb on 12 Aug 2021. This week’s photo was quite a challenge because I had to take the closeup with my left hand.

Below: I think this is a little wood satyr butterfly (Megisto cymela) perched on Viburnum plicatum. If the dorsal view is key to its identity … well, alas, I never saw its back.

(I think this is a …) Little wood satyr butterfly, Frick Park, 7 Aug 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

I know this gray bug is a planthopper but I don’t know what species. Google Lens identified it as a citrus flatid planthopper (Metcalfa pruinosa).

Citrus flatid planthopper, Frick Park, 7 Aug 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

This stag beetle (family Lucanidae), though impressive in size, was nearly dead.

Staghorn beetle, injured female, Frick Park, 7 Aug 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

We saw exposed branches and chomped leaves on a young northern catalpa (Catalpa speciosa) and found out why when we looked under the leaves.

Catalpa whose leaves have been devoured by catalpa worm, Frick Park, 7 Aug 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

The tree was infested with catalpa worms, the larval stage of the catapla sphinx moth (Ceratomia catalpae). The “horn” is actually its tail end trying to masquerade as a head.

Catalpa worm, larva of catalpa sphinx moth, Frick Park, 7 Aug 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

When the caterpillar grows up it will look like this.

Catalpa sphinx moth (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Meanwhile listen for the daytime drone of cicadas. Even if you don’t see them you can often identify them by sound. My guess at Frick Park on Thursday was lyric cicada because their sound is a puttering drone.

I wish there was a Merlin sound ID app for insects.

Seen This Week: Flowers, Bugs and Deer

Deer, Insects, Spiders, Plants & Fungi, Schenley Park
Insect(s) ate holes in this morning glory, Hays Woods, 31 July 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

2 August 2025

This week every flower had a bug on it. Even when I didn’t see insects I heard the drone of cicadas and found evidence of bugs munching on plants and flowers.

The symmetrical holes on the morning glory, above, probably indicate that a bug ate it at night when the petals were closed.

Butterflies were everywhere on Thursday along the trail of black-eyed susans (Rudbeckia hirta) at Hays Woods, but they were difficult to photograph with a cellphone. I spent a lot of time trying to get a good photo of this silver-spotted skipper.

Silver spotted skipper on black-eyed susan, Hays Woods, 31 July 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

… and even longer trying for this butterfly who would not show to good advantage. Jeff Cieslak suggests it’s a hackberry emperor. You can see the “bug” looking at me.

Butterfly on black-eyed susan (Which one?) Hays Woods, 31 July 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

A true bug — a leaf-footed bug — rested on my window for several hours on 28 July.

Leaf-footed bug outside my window, 28 July 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

Deer and Deer Damage in Schenley Park:

Alas there are still too many deer in Schenley Park for they’ve browsed these yews down to woody stems outside Phipps Conservatory.

Deer damage on yews, Schenley Park, 1 August 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

Inside the park they’ve eaten all their favorite native plants and are now trying “novel” foods. It took them years to discover that the young shoots of Japanese knotweed are acceptable forage.

Deer damage on Japanese knotweed(!), Schenley Park, 1 August 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

As expected, Schenley’s deer have come out of hiding this month as they wait for the rut to begin. In this photo I’ve circled four does resting in dappled shade along the Upper Trail.

One fawn in dappled shade along Schenley’s Upper Trail, 1 August 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

Nearby a single fawn rested alone. Can you see the fawn near the center of the photo?

One fawn in dappled shade along Schenley’s Upper Trail, 1 August 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

Munching all night, they sleep during the day.

A “Novel” Mix of Flowers at the End of July

Plants & Fungi
Horse nettle blooming, Herrs Island back channel, 25 July 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

29 July 2025

One of my favorite places to walk is along the Allegheny River on the Three Rivers Heritage Trail at Herrs Island back channel. The stretch from the Millvale Boat Launch to Herrs Island Scenic Overlook is rich in birds, plants and insects. Last Friday I found a novel (new) mix of native and non-native species in bloom.

Horse nettle, typically Solanum carolinense, is not a nettle at all but a member of the Solanum genus that includes potatoes, tomatoes and eggplants. This native, shown at top, is called “nettle” because the stems, leaves and flower stalks have thorns. Horse nettle is a perennial that spreads by seeds and rhizomes (creeping rootstalks). I did not realize that it has these interesting characteristics. I’ll have to go back and check them out.

Leaves smell like potatoes when crushed. … The fruits are berries that resemble tomatoes. The immature fruit is dark green with light green stripes, turning yellow and wrinkled as it matures. Each fruit contains around 60 seeds.

— Wikipedia: Solanum carolinense

Allegheny or square-stemmed monkeyflower (Mimulus ringens) is also a perennial that spreads by rhizomes and is often included in native plant seed mixes. Chances are it’s one of the few survivors of a trail beautification project. All it needed was the perfect place to sprout.

Allegheny monkeyflower, Herrs Island back channel, 25 July 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

Teasel (Dipsacus fullonum) is native to Eurasia and Africa but was brought to North America for use in textile processing. The dried flower head is “a natural comb for cleaning, aligning and raising the nap on fabrics, particularly wool.” It is so hardy that it escaped into the wild.

In the photo another native of Eurasia and Africa, the honeybee, finds a familiar flower and inadvertently helps it spread.

Honeybee visits teasel, Herrs Island back channel, 25 July 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

I found catnip (Nepeta cataria) blooming along the trail. What a great plant! We think it’s just for cats but people brought it here from Eurasia because of its many uses.

  • Catnip attracts butterflies (and cats).
  • It is drought tolerant and deer resistant.
  • Its presence can be a repellent for aphids and squash bugs.
  • Iridodial, extracted from catnip oil, attracts lacewings that eat aphids and mites.
  • If you rub catnip leaves on your skin or clothes the iridoid in them will repel mosquitos. You will also attract cats.
Catnip blooming, Herrs Island back channel, 25 July 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

I’m always happy to see common St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum) because it shares my name. This hardy non-native perennial was brought here from Eurasia and Africa for its many medicinal uses.

St. Johns wort, Herrs Island back channel, 25 July 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

Wild Urban Plants of the Northeast by Peter Del Tredici explains that it was “traditionally used as a poultice for treating wounds and ulcers. More recently it has become popular for treating mild depression along with the accompanying symptoms of fatigue, anxiety and insomnia. It has also been used as a food preservative, especially for cheese, and as a source of reddish dye.”

Years ago I bought a box containing my own good mood.

A novel ecosystem: Rather than thinking of this habitat as invasive weeds, I am learning to view it through Del Tredici’s eyes. This mix of native and non-native plants would never have come together were it not for humans. The result is a blend of hardy plants in a thriving novel ecosystem that has the staying power to outlast what we do to the habitat.

Bill Sutherland describes it here:

video embedded from Bill Sutherland’s Conservation Concepts on YouTube

Water Willow Up Close

Insects, Spiders, Plants & Fungi
Honeybee feeding on water willow, Duck Hollow, 27July 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

28 July 2025

Yesterday morning was so muggy that Charity Kheshgi and I went to Duck Hollow hoping for a cool breeze. Even at the water’s edge there was very little breeze but there were cool flowers.

From a distance American water willow (Dianthera americana) looks like common green stuff growing at the water’s edge. Through binoculars I could see that Duck Hollow has a lot of it, even more than marked on this photo.

Location of water willow at Duck Hollow (markup), end of July 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

Water willow has to have its feet wet.

The creeping rhizome allows Dianthera americana to form large colonies on or near the shorelines of still or slow waters in lakes and rivers, and on rocky riffles and shoals in faster flowing rivers. Its rhizomes and roots provide important spawning sites for many fish species and habitat for invertebrates.

— Wikipedia: American Water Willow

The leaves resemble willow but unlike real willows this plant never gets more than three feet tall. Its dense vegetation and rhizomes help reduce shoreline erosion.

Typical water willow , Justicia americana (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

From a distance the small white and purple flowers, only 1.5 inches across, are difficult to see. Up close they are beautiful, almost like irises, and their purple markings lure in pollinators. The clump we examined was humming with honeybees, shown at top.

Closeup of water willow flowers, 27 July 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

We also saw a tiny new-to-us moth. iNaturalist suggested an orange-banded Tripudia moth (Tripudia flavofasciata) which is “expected nearby.” Is that what it is?

What moth is feeding on this water willow? Duck Hollow, 27July 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

If you live near water in eastern North America chances are good that you have water willow near you. Blooming from summer to fall it is common within its wide range.

Range of American water willow (map from Wikimedia Commons)

Summer Horror Film

Insects, Spiders, Plants & Fungi, Spotted Lanternflies
Spotted lanternfly red nymphs, Herrs Island back channel, 25 July 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

27 July 2025on

On a walk at Herrs Island back channel this week (Millvale side) I was on my usual route down the boat ramp when a bug dropped on me. It was red, black and white like the ones pictured above. Ewww! The Ailanthus (Ailanthus altissima) tree above me was crawling with red nymph spotted lanternflies  (Lycorma delicatula).

Below the tree I found a mob swarming on a retaining wall.

Crawling with spotted lanternflies, 25 July 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

And they didn’t sit still. Creepy crawly horrors!

Swarm of red nymph spotted lanternflies, Pittsburgh, 25 July 2025

This week must have been the peak of red nymphs at the Allegheny River Trail for I saw only 5 winged adults.

Adult spotted lanternfly, Herrs Island back channel, 25 July 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)

Imagine when all those nymphs turn into adults. Clearly the worst is yet to come along with more summer horror films.

What’s This Growing at the Nest?

Peregrines, Plants & Fungi
Something big is growing at the Pitt peregrine nest, 25 July 2025 (snapshot from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh)

25 July 2025

A rather large plant is growing in the gravel at the Pitt peregrine nest. Though the peregrines generally ignore it I felt compelled to find out what it is and when it started growing.

Harsh sunlight in the snapshots made it hard to see until its small leaves cast shadows on 10 July. At first it grew slowly. Then rain on 16 July prompted a growth spurt.

Yesterday I had a hunch about its identity so I scanned the snapshot into the Picture This plant identification app. I was right. It’s corn! (also called maize)

Picture This identification of the plant at the nest, 24 July 2025

Plants like this grow at peregrine nest sites because the seeds arrive in the crops of birds the adults feed to their nestlings. My guess is that this seed/kernel arrived in late May when the youngsters spent time picking apart the leftovers. Eventually the seed germinated.

Fortunately corn is an annual plant so it will die at the end of the growing season. How tall will it be then?

UPDATE PHOTO on 5 AUG 2025!
Ecco is almost dwarfed by this plant that has been growing in the nest gravel for less than 4 weeks, 5 August 2025 (snapshot from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh)

Invasive in Finland But Not in Pennsylvania

Finland, Plants & Fungi, Travel
Garden lupine (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

20 July 2025, in Finland

It’s likely that every place on earth now has invasive plants and many of them are the same species popping up everywhere. We’re now in Finland where their invasive plants list includes two that are also invasive in Pennsylvania — giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum) and rugosa rose (Rosa rugosa) — but we’ve also seen two species that are invasive in Finland and don’t even grow wild in PA.

Lupines (Lupinus) are a beautiful flowering genus of 199 species, most of which are native to North and South America. Often cultivated in gardens, they’ve escaped to the wild in Scandinavia and New Zealand and are now invasive.

Garden lupine (Lupinus polyphyllus) is native to western North America from Alaska to Utah and was intentionally planted to beautify roadsides in Finland.

Invasive lupine along the road in Finland (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

But now it is everywhere. I thought these flowers by the railroad were part of a beautification project. Nope. They’re invaders.

Lupine seen along the railroad in Finland, July 2017 (photo taken from the train by Kate St. John)

Himalayan balsam (Impatiens glandulifera) is an annual plant with high seed production that followed the same trajectory as giant hogweed and Japanese knotweed.

In the UK, the plant was first introduced in 1839, at the same time as giant hogweed and Japanese knotweed. These plants were all promoted at the time as having the virtues of “herculean proportions” and “splendid invasiveness” which meant that ordinary people could buy them for the cost of a packet of seeds to rival the expensive orchids grown in the greenhouses of the rich.

— Wikipedia: Himalayan Balsam

Indeed Himalayan balsam is splendidly invasive but because it prefers a cooler climate it invades the northern latitudes and does not grow wild in PA.

Himalayan balsam (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Though it is an annual it produces lots of seeds which pop when the seed pod is touched.

Himalayan balsam with unexploded seed pods (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

You might notice its resemblance to our native jewelweeds — for instance yellow jewelweed (Impatiens pallida) or pale touch-me-not — whose seed pods also pop.

Yellow jewleweed with bumblebee, August 2018 (photo by Kate St John)

Read more about invasive species in Kuopio, Finland near where we’re visiting. The Spanish slug is on their list. Eewww!