Category Archives: Plants & Fungi

plants & fungi

Flowers on the Cusp of July

Yarrow in unusual pink, Schenley Park, 29 June 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)

3 July 2021

As June turned into July I found yarrow (Achillea millefolium) blooming an unusual pink in Schenley Park.

Daisy fleabane (Erigeron annuus) flowers close at night and reopen in the morning. I caught these petals in the act at Frick Park on the last day of June.

Daisy fleabane opening on a chilly day, Frick Park, 30 June 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)

Sulphur cinquefoil (Potentilla recta) turned its face to the sun at Piney Tract on 23 June.

Sulphur cinquefoil at Piney Tract, 23 June 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)

Blooming now in Schenley Park, bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus parviflora) opens its flowers from the bottom up.

Bottlebrush buckeye in bloom, Schenley Park, 28 June 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)

The word bladder has unpleasant connotations but also describes anything both inflated and hollow. The bladdernut tree (Staphylea trifolia) has inflated and hollow seed pods, seen yesterday at Frick Park.

Bladdernut seed pods, Frick Park, 2 July 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)

And on the subject of bladders, bladder campion’s (Silene vulgaris) pink, inflated flowers drew our attention at Piney Tract on 23 June. Thanks to Barb Griffith for the photo.

Bladder campion, Piney Tract, 23 June 2021 (photo by Barb Griffith)

Two species in this list are not native to North America. Can you name which ones?

(photos by Kate St. John and Barb Griffith)

Milkweed and Scissor-Grinders

Swamp milkweed with carpenter bee, yellow jacket, and pearl crescent butterfly (photo by Kate St. John)

1 July 2021

July is the month for bugs and field flowers and late nesting birds — for milkweed and scissor-grinder cicadas.

Among the milkweeds my favorite is swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) for its vibrant pink color and more delicate leaves. Insects like it, too.

July is also when the first scissor-grinder cicadas (Neotibicen pruinosus) appear (in my neighborhood, first heard on 3 July 2021). Their whirring drone is said to resemble the sound of scissors being ground or sharpened, but who among us has heard that manufacturing sound? Scissor-grinders are more common than the sound they were named for.

Scissor-grinder annual cicada, Pittsburgh PA, (photo by Kate St. John)

Lots more is on tap for the month of July. Check out the list in this vintage article: Milkweed or What to Look for in July.

(photos by Kate St. John)

Enchanting Sky and Flowers

Sunrise on 24 June 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)

26 June 2021

The sky was enchanting on Thursday morning while enchanter’s nightshade (Circaea lutetiana or perhaps Circaea canadensis) was blooming in Schenley Park.

Enchanter’s nightshade, Schenley Park, 25 June 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)

On 16 June, six of us were enchanted by mountain laurel and hundreds of pitcher plants blooming at Spruce Bog on top of Laurel Mountain.

  • Mountain laurel on Laurel Mountain, 16 June 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)

In the slideshow above, notice the leaf that’s wrapped and sealed into a tube. The structure was made by an insect. I don’t know which one.

p.s. Read more here about the enchanter’s nightshade name. Interestingly the plant is not in the nightshade family.

(photos by Kate St. John)

Becoming Summer

Yellow Goat’s Beard flower and seed pod, 11 June 2021, Moraine State Park (photo by Kate St. John)

12 June 2021

Temperatures have fluctuated widely in the past couple of weeks — from chilly damp to searing heat — but the plants and insects keep on their steady march to summer.

Above, yellow goat’s beard (Tragopogon dubius) now has both flowers and seeds.

Below, this sprig of bedstraw (Galium sp) has almost finished blooming with just one flower and many seeds. The plant feels sticky because its stems, leaves, and seed pods are all covered in tiny hooked bristles that act like Velcro.

Bedstraw gone to seed, 11 June 2021, Moraine State Park (photo by Kate St. John)

In Schenley Park the tulip trees (Liriodendron tulipifera) have finished blooming, the “tulips” are fading and dropping their petals.

Tuliptree flower is fading, 8 June 2021, Schenley Park (photo by Kate St. John)

As birdsong wanes the bugs are taking over the soundscape. I’ve already heard the first crickets and an unknown-to-me insect that buzzes at 5,000 hertz in Schenley Park.

And who is this? None of us could name him yesterday at Moraine State Park. Can you identify this hunched insect with bright orange antenna tips? If so, please leave a comment.

UPDATE: This insect is a leaf-footed bug, probably Acanthocephalus terminalis, thanks to Kim’s comment.

Who is this? Insect at Moraine State Park, 11 June 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)
Who is this? Insect at Moraine State Park, 11 June 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)

(photos by Kate St. John)

Rhododenrons: Wild and Tame

Rhododendron in the wild at Ferncliff Peninsula, PA, 1 July 2015 (photo by Kate St. John)

30 May 2021

In Pennsylvania we plant azaleas and rhododendrons in our gardens but we can also find them in the wild. I am reminded of this in late May when the cultivated rhododendrons and wild azaleas bloom.

At the garden store azalea bushes are short dense shrubs that bloom in April, while rhododendrons are tall woody shrubs that bloom in late May. Scientifically they are all Rhododendrons with minor differences. The big difference for me is that the garden plants bloom four to six weeks before the wild ones.

Yesterday I found flowering rhododendrons on Pitt’s campus. Some were white (below) like their wild progenitors shown at top in Fayette County.

Cultivated rhododendron at Univ of Pittsburgh, white, 29 May 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)

Others were hybridized to create purple flowers.

Cultivated rhododendron at Univ of Pittsburgh, purple, 29 May 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)

To see the wild ones I visit the Laurel Highlands around the Fourth of July, especially Ferncliff Peninsula at Ohiopyle State Park. Nowadays it pays to go a little earlier than the Fourth because climate change has moved things up.

Meanwhile last weekend at Moraine State Park Karyn Delaney found wild azalea in bloom.

Wild azalea at Moraine State Park, 22 May 2021 (photo by Karyn Delaney)

Sometimes wild azaleas (Rhododenron periclymenoides) are called “pinkster” in southwestern Pennsylvania but it’s not because the flower is pink. They were named “pinxter” for the Dutch word for Pentecost because wild azaleas bloom at that time of year.

This year Pentecost was 23 May. Wild azalea is blooming right on time.

(photos by Kate St. John and Karyn Delaney)

p.s. What’s the difference between an azalea and a rhododendron? Not much. They have slightly different leaves and azalea flowers usually have 5 stamens while other rhododendrons have 10.

Attacks Trees From Underground

Armillaria mycelial cords encircle the trunk of a fallen tree, Barking Slopes, April 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)

9 May 2021

Have you ever seen these long black ropes draped on a fallen log? They were hidden under the bark before the tree died, and they’re the reason the tree died. These are mycelial cords or rhizomorphs of Armillaria, a genus of fungi that ultimately kills trees. It attacks the trees from underground.

Armillaria consists of 10 species which are easiest to identify by their mushrooms, the reproductive stage of the fungus. Honey mushrooms appear near the base of an infected tree but the spores rarely cause infection in other trees.

Fruiting bodies of Armillaria solidipes, Cook Forest, PA (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Instead, Armillaria spreads by the rhizomorphs shown at top which travel only eight inches below the soil surface, advancing about 3.3 ft (1 m) per year. As they make contact with another tree they invade the roots and then the trunk. If a tree is already infected it will spread the fungus via root grafts.

Underground spread of armillaria disease (illustration from Wikimedia Commons, cropped)

Armillaria spreads so far and lives so long that a single Armillaria ostoyae in the Malheur National Forest in Oregon was found to be 2,400 years old and the largest living organism on earth.

As the infection takes hold, the fungus invades more deeply via white mycelium sheets that damage the roots or girdle the tree. Here a fallen black cherry reveals its cause of death.

Black cherry toppled near its base due to Armillaria, as seen by white sheets inside the wood, Schenley Park April 2017 (photo by Kate St. John)

Schenley Park is riddled with Armillaria but we have no hint that a tree is invaded until it topples, sometimes at the roots.

Black cherry toppled by Armillaria, Schenley Park, May 2014 (photo by Kate St. John)

Trees are so stoic. No matter what attacks them, they just have to stand there and take it.

(photos by Kate St. John and from Wikimedia Commons)

Blue And Green

Indigo bunting, Homewood Cemetery, 5 May 2021 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)

8 May 2021

Now that leaves are on the trees the bluest birds have shown up.

Young oak leaves, Schenley Park, 1 May 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)

Charity Kheshgi photographed an indigo bunting (Passerina cyanea) at Homewood Cemetery on Wednesday 5 May …

… and a cerulean warbler (Setophaga cerulea) at Frick Park on 4 May.

Click the white arrows on the right side of photos to see more views.

By the way, today is Migratory Bird Day. Don’t miss this opportunity to get outdoors.

(photos by Charity Kheshgi via Instagram)

A Last Look At April

Golden ragwort, Raccoon Creek State Park, 26 April 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)

1 May 2021

This week April’s wildflowers faded, May flowers began to bloom, and the trees in Schenley Park leafed out.

On 26 April I found golden ragwort, wild geranium and white violets along the Lake Trail at Raccoon Creek State Park in Beaver County.

Wild geranium, Raccoon Creek State Park, 26 April 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)
White violets, Raccoon Creek State Park, 26 April 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)

The city’s heat island effect was evident among the trees. The redbuds in Schenley Park leafed out while those in Beaver County were a week behind, still flowering.

Redbud leafs out, Schenley Park, 28 April 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)

We have so many leaves that they almost obscured an eastern screech-owl on the last day of April.

Eastern screech-owl, Schenley Park, 30 April 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)

Welcome to the month of May.

(photos by Kate St. John)

Flowers Before The Snow

  • White redbud, Frick Park, 18 April 2021 (photo by Kate St. John)

24 April 2021

Spring weather was up and down this week with highs in the mid 60s on Tuesday and a low below freezing yesterday morning. Most discouraging, though, was Wednesday morning’s snow.

Long before the snow, I visited Barking Slopes to see spring wildflowers and paused to admire white redbuds at Frick Park as shown in the slideshow. Here’s a little bit more about the photos.

(photos by Kate St. John)