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.

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

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.

(photos 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.

Others were hybridized to create purple flowers.

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.

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.

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.

• White redbud (Cercis canadensis f. alba) at Frick Park, the only place I’ve ever seen this cultivar.
• By 18 April bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) has gone to seed; its leaves have grown.
• Star chickweed (Stellaria pubera)
• Large-flowered trillium (Trillium grandiflorum) in bloom
• Nodding trillium (Trillium cernuum)
• Squirrel corn (Dicentra canadensis)
• Yellow violets … which I did not key out.
• When jewelweed (Impatiens sp.) leafs out it produces two leaf shapes. The first two leaves are round. The next two leaves, and all that follow, are toothed.

(photos by Kate St. John)

12 April 2021

As soon as the trees leaf out the ground will be shady in Pennsylvania’s woodlands so our spring wildflowers are timed to bloom in April. I went to see them on Sunday at Braddock’s Trail Park in Westmoreland County, a place famous for blue-eyed Mary.

The captions identify each flower in the slideshow. Here’s a little more information:

• Blue-eyed Mary (Collinsia verna) covers the hillsides at Braddock’s Trail Park. From a distance it looks white. Up close it looks blue.
• A few blue-eyed Mary plants produce pink flowers.
• Rue-anemone (Thalictrum thalictroides) is a delicate plant that blows easily in the wind. A strong breeze deformed the flower as I captured this image.
• Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum), before the leaves open.
• Common blue violet (Viola sororia)
• Spring beauty (Claytonia virginica). Thin leaves identify this as the virginica species.
• Squirrel corn (Dicentra canadensis)
• Wake-robin or red trillium (Trillium erectum). This is the largest flower I photographed, about 3 inches across.
• Wild blue phlox (Phlox divaricata). This one is unusual because it has 6 petals.
• Yellow corydalis (Corydalis flavula)
• Wild ginger’s (Asarum canadense) hairy flower hides below the leaves, lying on its side. To see it from the pollinator’s point of view I’d have to lie on the ground. (Not !) Here’s what the flower looks like.

If you live in Pittsburgh Braddock’s Trail Park is worth a visit for April wildflowers. More are coming soon. As of Sunday the trillium hadn’t bloomed yet.

(photos by Kate St. John)

3 April 2021

As I mentioned five days ago we had lovely warm weather in late March but now it has snowed on April Fools’ Day and dipped well below freezing in early April. Before the freeze I walked in Schenley Park and at Cedar Creek in Westmoreland County to see the flowers.

Above, the delicate pink flowers on this non-native ornamental tree won’t survive the frost. Fortunately most native wildflowers will do just fine.

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) blooms early in the spring but is naturally cautious about exposing itself until sun shines on the plant. In these three photos, taken 31 March at Cedar Creek, you can see how the flowers are tightly closed in the morning (10:26am), begin to open as the sun hits them (11:12am) and are fully open in full sun (11:35am). The Botanical Society of Western PA schedules their walks for 1:00pm to take advantage of this behavior. They will be at Cedar Creek today.

Sharp-lobed hepatica (Hepatica acutiloba) also closes at night and opens in full sun. The flower stands tall but it takes effort to find the sharp-lobed leaves.

Cedar Creek is famous for snow trillium (Trillium nivale), a very hardy plant. Its flowers remain open after they bloom.

On the last day of March I found box elder leafing out in Schenley Park.

And then it snowed and I was out there in it. The last snow of the winter is not as much fun as the first one.

Soon we’ll see what the cold has wrought.

(photos by Kate St. John)