Category Archives: Plants & Fungi

plants & fungi

Easter Lilies Are Poisonous To Cats

Deer, Mammals, Plants & Fungi
Easter lily (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

A flower that’s poisonous to one particular mammal …

If you have a cat, keep this plant far away from him. Easter lilies are extremely poisonous to cats.

Cat montage (image from Wikimedia Commons)

Native to Taiwan and the Ryukyu Islands of Japan, Easter lilies (Lilium longiflorum) are popular flowers at this time of year. Unfortunately every part of the plant is poisonous to cats: the flowers, the leaves, the stem, even the pollen.

Easter lilies are so poisonous to cats that if the pollen touches her and she grooms it away, it will poison her. The result is severe kidney failure.

The poisoning occurs quickly. Signs are evident within 6-12 hours of exposure. There is no antidote but immediate veterinary attention will improve the cat’s chance to live.

The Pet Poison Helpline recommends:

If your cat is seen consuming any part of a lily, bring your cat (and the plant) immediately to a veterinarian for medical care.

Pet Poison Helpline — Lilies Poisonous to cats

Do you have a dog? No worries. Easter lilies are not poisonous to dogs. This message only applies to cats.

Read more about cats at the Pet Poison Helpline. Read about dogs and lilies here.

p.s. Members of the Lilium genus are favorite foods for deer. I have not seen deer eating Easter lilies but I bet they love them.

(photos from Wikimedia Commons; click on the captions to see the originals)

Now Blooming

Phenology, Plants & Fungi, Schenley Park
Hepatica at Cedar Creek Park, 6 April 2019 (photo by Kate St. John)

7 April 2019

What’s blooming in southwestern Pennsylvania this weekend?

Yesterday’s joint outing of the Botanical Society of Western PA and Wissahickon Nature Club found a lot of spring flowers at Cedar Creek Park in Westmoreland County, 6 April 2019.

Hepatica was blooming in shades of white, pink and blue. In the photo above, the leaves aren’t visible so I can’t tell if this plant is round-lobed (Anemone americana) or sharp-lobed (Anemone acutiloba) hepatica.

Harbinger of Spring (Erigenia bulbosa) was blooming along the valley trail. Did you know this plant is in the Carrot family?

Harbinger of spring at Cedar Creek Park, 6 April 2019 (photo by Kate St. John)

Snow trillium (Trillium nivale) covered the hillside beyond the last bridge …

Snow trillium at Cedar Creek Park, 6 April 2019 (photo by Kate St. John)

… and spicebush’s (Lindera benzoin) tiny yellow flowers were a nice surprise.

Spicebush at Cedar Creek Park, 6 April 2019 (photo by Kate St. John)

Most of the spring beauty was not in bloom but we found Carolina spring beauty (Claytonia caroliniana), a specialty at Cedar Creek shown below.

Spring Beauty at Cedar Creek Park, 6 April 2019 (photo by Kate St. John)

This bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) was bright white by the bike trail. Its leaves are barely visible, clutching the stem, while a garlic mustard leaf tries to photo-bomb the bottom corner.

Bloodroot at Cedar Creek Park, 6 April 2019 (photo by Kate St. John)

Meanwhile, how are the buckeye buds doing in Schenley Park? Some were unfurling on Friday 5 April 2019. Note the CORRECTION ABOUT BUCKEYES below!

Yellow buckeye buds, starting to unfurl their leaves in Schenley Park, 5 April 2019 (photo by Kate St. John)

CORRECTION ABOUT BUCKEYES: Last week Stephen Tirone investigated the buckeye buds in Schenley and Frick Parks and learned that these are yellow buckeyes (Aesculus flava) not Ohio buckeyes (Aesculus glabra). Though Ohio buckeyes are more common in the wild, Pittsburgh’s parks are not “wild.” Schenley and Frick Parks were landscaped with ornamentals when the parks were established more than 100 years ago. Yellow buckeyes are often planted as ornamental trees and may be hybridized to produce showy flowers. So, yes, these are yellow buckeyes.

(photos by Kate St. John)

Late March in Schenley Park

Phenology, Plants & Fungi, Schenley Park
  • Cornelian cherry (Cornus mas), 28 March 2019 (photo by Kate St. John)

Spring is coming at a good pace this year. Unlike hot years, such as March 2012, there’s time to appreciate each new leaf and flower before the next set appears.

My photos above show a selection of leaves and flowers at Schenley Park this past week. Most were taken on March 28 but the real surprise was coltsfoot blooming on St. Patrick’s Day. That flower hid for ten days and appeared again last week.

Unfortunately, all of these plants are alien and some are invasive. Their ability to spring ahead of the local plants gives them an advantage all year long.

Click here for that same honeysuckle branch, bud-to-leaves on March 11, 16.

(photos by Kate St. John)

Seed & Plant Swap, 23 Feb

Books & Events, Plants & Fungi
Bottle gentian seeds (photo by Kate St. John)

Get ready to garden!

In just over a month Grow Pittsburgh, Phipps Conservatory, and Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh will hold their seventh annual free Seed and Plant Swap.

What: A Celebration of Seeds, the 7th annual Seed and Plant Swap
Where: Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Main (in Oakland).
When: Sat. 23 Feb 2019, 11a – 3p
Event Partners: Grow Pittsburgh, Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, and Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh

Seed Swap at Carnegie Library in 2018 (photo by Nick Shapiro, courtesy Grow Pittsburgh)

Free! Seeds, seedlings and perennials donated by local gardeners, farmers, and seed companies. Workshops on seed saving, seed starting and organic gardening.

Swap! Bring your own untreated, non-GMO seeds and plants to share and you’ll gain early entry to the swap (11a) and be eligible to win raffle prizes.  The swap opens to everyone at 11:30a.

Workshops and Activities:

  • Hands-on activities for children and teens
  • Seed stories
  • Gardening experts available to answer your questions
  • 3 free workshops, noon to 3p, in the North Wing Music Room. Click here for details.
Seed Swap 2018 (photo by Nick Shapiro courtesy Grow Pittsburgh)

For directions and more information, see the event announcements at Phipps and Carnegie Library.

(photo of seeds in hand by Kate St. John, photos of Seed Swap by Nick Shapiro courtesy Grow Pittsburgh)

From Parakeets to Jelly Beans

Insects, Plants & Fungi
Male rose-ringed parakeet (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

One thing leads to another:

  • This parakeet eats a food named for pigeons
  • The food grows on a plant that ..
  • … is cultivated to host a beneficial insect
  • The insect creates a sticky substance called lac
  • We harvest lac to make shellac and put it on ..
  • … furniture …
  • … and on jelly beans.

The parakeet:  Rose-ringed parakeets (Psittacula krameri), above, are a nuisance in India because they devastate the pigeon pea crops. What are pigeon peas?

The food: Pigeon peas (Cajanas cajan) are a tropical legume first cultivated in India 3,500 years ago. The peas are used like lentils as a staple food in Asia, Africa and South America.  I’m sure I’ve eaten pigeon peas without knowing their English name.

Immature raw pigeon peas (left); Mature & split (right) (images from Wikimedia Commons)

The plant:  Cajanas cajan plants are grown for their peas (inside the bean pods) and as the host of a beneficial insect, Kerria lacca.

Pigeon pea plant with seed pods and a flower (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

The insect:  Scale insects lead sexually dimorphic lives. The males can fly to find females, but they don’t eat. The females are immobile, permanently attached to their host plant, sucking its sap. To protect themselves the females produce a sticky covering called lac. Kerria lacca females, shown below, use several trees as their host plants including pigeon peas.

Lac tubes deposited by Kerria lacca insect (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

We harvest the lac to make shellac.  According to Wikipedia, we “infest” the host plants with Kerria lacca females. When the branches are well coated we cut them (sticklac), scrape, sieve and heat to remove impurities (seedlac), then use heat or solvent extraction to create shellac. 

Alcohol dissolves shellac and makes it spreadable but the liquid form has a 1-year shelf life.  Shellac is stored as flakes and mixed with alcohol at the time of use.

Shellac flakes in various colors (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

The furniture:  Shellac is a superior finish, especially for antiques, but it is fussy.  When I was a kid my father refinished furniture in his spare time and at one point tried shellac. We kids quickly learned “Don’t touch that table!”  Damp glasses left water rings (which faded), alcohol marred it, and household cleaners damaged it.  However, shellac is beautiful.

Restorer applying shellac hand polish to a table (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

And back to food:  When mixed with edible alcohol, food grade shellac makes the shiny coating on jelly beans and other candies.

Jelly beans (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

One thing leads to another, from parakeets to jelly beans.

(photos from Wikimedia Commons; click on the captions to see the originals)

Cranberries Float

Plants & Fungi
Cranberry on Mt. Davis, 14 Oct 2018 (photo by Kate St. John)

In October the Botanical Society of Western Pennsylvania went on a field trip to Christner Bog on Mt. Davis, the highest mountain (actually a plateau) in Pennsylvania.  We were admonished to bring waterproof boots so I wore my best muck boots. They’re ankle high and they were not enough.

It rained so much this fall that the bog was over-full.  I learned that day that plateau bogs are surrounded by a moat of deeper water. (Knee-high boots required!)  It was a huge challenge to tiptoe on submerged branches and lumps to cross the moat.

On the other side of the moat, the water was still too deep for my boots so I stood on a hummock while everyone else explored the center of the bog.

Botanical Society of Western PA outing to Christner Bog on Mt. Davis, Oct 2018 (photo by Kate St. John)

They found lots of cool plants among the sphagnum moss.  I looked down and found wild cranberries (Vaccinium oxycoccos).

Wild cranberries among the sphagnum moss, Mt. Davis, 14 Oct 2018 (photo by Kate St. John)

So I picked one, shown at top.

I wish I’d opened the berry to see the air chambers that hold its tiny seeds.

Cranberries inside and out (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Instead I dropped the berry in the moat on my way out, hoping an animal would eat it later.

I’d forgotten that cranberries float.

(photos by Kate St. John)

From Pumpkin To Peppermint

Plants & Fungi
Pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo) and peppermint (Mentha x piperita) (photos from Wikimedia Commons)

This weekend we’ve switched seasonal plants from pumpkin to peppermint. 

Pumpkins (Cucurbita pepo) are cultivars of New World squash that are popular at Halloween because they’re easier to carve than turnips (really! read more here). 

We could eat pumpkin year round — mashed, pureed, in soup, cooked like squash, or eaten as pumpkin seed snacks — but most of us consume it in pies from Halloween to Thanksgiving.  After that pumpkin pie has a lot of competition from Christmas desserts.

Peppermint (Mentha x piperita) is a cultivated hybrid of watermint and spearmint native to Europe and the Middle East.  We use its leaves for flavoring year round but it doesn’t hit its stride until candy cane season arrives.

According to legend candy canes were invented in 1670 for Christmas in Cologne, Germany … but maybe not. The first time they’re mentioned is in the early 1800s.  In any case, peppermint became the flavor of Christmas. 

Pumpkin pie and candy canes (photos from Wikimedia Commons)

By Monday morning pumpkins will be passé, peppermint is prospering.

(photos from Wikimedia Commons; click on the caption links to see the originals)

Jack O’Lanterns

Plants & Fungi, Schenley Park
Two Jack O’ Lanterns (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Happy Halloween!   It’s the day for pumpkin Jack O’ Lanterns.  Did you know there’s a mushroom by the same name?

On my bird walk in late September we found these jack o’ lantern mushrooms near the Schenley Park golf course.

Jack O’Lantern mushroom, Schenley Park, 30 Sept 2018 (photo by Kate St. John)

Jack O’ Lanterns (Omphalotus illudens) are common mushrooms east of the Rocky Mountains and are often found in urban settings.  Typical of their species, these were sprouting from an old stump.  Though they resemble edible chanterelles, jack o’ lanterns are poisonous and cause vomiting, cramps and diarrhea.  

Reference guides say that jack o’ lantern’s gills glow in the dark but this must be hard to see.  The Mushroom Expert says he’s wasted three hours of his life trying to see them glow without any success.

We found these mushrooms on 30 September and took a lot of photos. There were so many mushrooms!

On 1 October I walked past the stump and the mushrooms were gone.  Someone must have thought they were chanterelles, got greedy, took them all … and got sick.

Now that’s scary!

p.s.  It’s illegal to remove mushrooms from City parks, even for personal use.  Check the Western PA Mushroom Club’s Mushroom Picking Rules & Regulations in PA for places where it’s allowed.

(pumpkin photo from Wikimedia Commons; click on the caption to see the original. mushroom photo by Kate St. John)