21 June 2020
Plants are getting interesting as the next flower season begins in Pittsburgh.
Last week I found chickory (Cichorium intybus) and thimbleweed (Anemone virginiana) blooming in the city and a variety of flowers north of town.
On 17 June six friends and I gathered at Wolf Creek Narrows to bird watch and botanize.
I was hoping to find ramps (Allium tricoccum) in full bloom but we were too early to see the balls of flowers that become these unusual starburst seed pods. Note that the leaves in the background are a different plant. Ramps don’t have leaves when they bloom.
However, partridgeberry (Mitchella repens) and Indian cucumber root (Medeola virginiana) were in full bloom.
Meanwhile, as you examine the flowers, keep your eyes open for bugs. I found this one on golden alexanders in Schenley Park. Is he piercing that flower to suck the juice?
(photos by Kate St. John)
Are you sure? The ramp leaf doesn’t look right.
Nan, we used the leaves of a different plant to prop up the ramp flowers. I changed the blog text to explain that ramps don’t have leaves when they bloom.
Last weekend the Botanical Society of Western PA went on a walk in State Game Lands 51 near Ohiopyle State Park. We saw Whorled Loosestrife, Houstonia Purpurea, Blue-Eyed Grass, Swamp Azalea, and Mountain Laurel, among other things. Some neat insects also.