Greater celandine (Chelidonium majus) is a Eurasian perennial in the poppy family that’s blooming now in Schenley Park. Though it resembles our native celandine-poppy it’s not as particular about habitat. It can be invasive.
To be sure it’s in the poppy family, break a leaf. Greater celandine has orange latex sap.
Don’t put the evidence in your pocket. The “orange juice” can leave a stain.
Some sources say that greater celandine’s orange sap glows in the dark.
(photos by Kate St. John)
26 April 2020
April 19-25 was another good week for beautiful flowers and new leaves in southwestern Pennsylvania. Check the captions on my photos for species, date and location. Thanks to John English for the white violet from Frick Park.
BONUS! There’s mystery plant to identify at the end. Yes, it’s probably an alien.
In Frick Park yesterday, John English found white violets.
Mystery plant shown below. … By the way, thank you for your suggestions regarding the iNaturalist app. I don’t use it to identify things because I get sucked into email/messaging when I use my cellphone outdoors. There’s a side benefit, though. You have a puzzle to solve.
Question: Can you tell me what plant this is? I photographed these new leaves at Boyce-Mayview Park because I love their wrinkled texture. They remind me of an invasive ornamental shrub called Jetbead which is currently blooming in Schenley Park but this shrub has no flowers. Please leave a comment with your answer.
ANSWER! This is Viburnum plicatum otherwise known as Snowball bush. It’s from Japan. Thank you, Dianne Machesney.
(photos by Kate St. John & John English)
18 April 2020:
On my solitary walks during the COVID-19 shutdown I find more and more beauty as Spring comes to Pittsburgh. Here are a few of the flowers and trees that bloomed this week. See the captions for species, location and date.
Frost damage: Yellow buckeyes are some of the earliest trees to leaf out but they pay a price if the temperature falls below freezing as it did this week. The early leaves are wilted on this yellow buckeye in Schenley Park.
And finally, a mystery flower in a waste place in Schenley Park. I think it’s an alien. Can you tell me what it is? (Newcomb’s: 4 petals with alternate, toothed leaves). ANSWER: Thanks to Dianne Machesney. This is Field Pennycress and yes it’s an alien.
(photos by Kate St. John)
In this time of plague, Easter and Passover remind us that hope and rebirth in the past give us hope and rebirth for the future.
Happy Passover, Wednesday 8 April to Thursday 16 April 2020.
Happy Easter, 12 April 2020.
(photo from Wikimedia Commons; click on the caption to see the original)
11 April 2020:
During the COVID-19 shutdown my daily treat is to go outdoors, watch birds, and take photos of flowers. Here’s a bit of beauty to brighten your Saturday.
Above, blue violets in the grass in Schenley Park. Below, a selection of photos from Raccoon Creek Wildflower Reserve.
(photos by Kate St. John)
7 April 2020
If you live in the southern or eastern U.S., spring leaf out has come 10 to 20 days early this year. The anomalies are evident in dark red on yesterday’s National Phenology Network map (USANPN).
Spring is at least 10 days early in Pittsburgh. I’ve noticed yellow buckeye trees (Aesculus flava) on the south-facing slopes are in full leaf, …
… choke cherries and crabapples are in full bloom, …
… and the willows glow with pale green leaves in Schenley Park.
Interestingly, a few places in the Midwest and south central Great Plains have a slightly delayed spring (blue on the map). It all depends on where you live.
How early is spring in your neighborhood?
(photos by Kate St. John, maps from USA National Phenology Network)
Here are a few bright photos taken at Duck Hollow yesterday, 3 April 2020, some by John English, some by myself. Yes, we were there at the same time. Yes, we stayed 6 feet apart!
Above, lesser celandine (Ficaria verna) blankets the Monongahela shore with bright yellow flowers. They are beautiful but very invasive. Note this photo from Fox Chapel.
These “true bugs” called boxelder bugs (Boisea trivittata) were abundant near the railroad tracks. They are especially fond of mating on the rails.
Trees are in bloom all around Pittsburgh.
Today promises to be another fine day. Remember: Don’t travel far (Stay At Home) and maintain physical distance outdoors (6 feet+).
(photos by John English and Kate St. John)
2 April 2020
Spring keeps coming to Pittsburgh in fits and starts. In the last week we’ve gone from +22 F degrees above normal (29 March) to -3 F degrees below normal (31 March) and yet the flowers and leaves keep coming.
To illustrate I took two photos of the same sedge in Schenley Park. The buds on 27 March burst open two days later in 77 degree heat.
Leaves are starting to pop, too. Yellow buckeyes (Aesculus flava) have their first leaves …
… and these reddish, toothed, compound leaves are opening on shrubs along West Circuit Road in Schenley Park. It’s a cultivated alien I can’t identify.
There are also flowers in the trees: Northern magnolia, crabapple buds, blooming (invasive) Callery pear, and flowering cherry.
I am so grateful that Schenley Park is still open.
Please keep physical distance in the parks or our parks will close as have those in other parts of Pennsylvania!
(photos by Kate St. John)
25 March 2020:
Around the world, more and more of us are under Stay At Home orders to stop the spread of COVID-19. Yesterday Governor Wolf announced that eight PA counties — 45% of Pennsylvanians — must Stay At Home through 6 April. Fortunately residents are permitted to “engage in outdoor activity, such as walking, hiking or running if they maintain social distancing” — i.e. stay at least 6 feet apart.
So I’ve been going outdoors alone … especially when the weather is drizzly, cold or gray because no one else is out there. I’ve seen lots of birds including red-winged blackbirds, hundreds of American robins, eastern phoebes, a brown-headed cowbird, a golden-crowned kinglet and a merlin(!) in Schenley Park.
I’ve also photographed some signs of spring, 18-24 March 2020. Flowers are blooming in Greenfield’s neighborhood gardens, above and below.
The earliest trees are beginning to leaf out including the bottlebrush buckeyes (Aesculus parviflora) in Schenley Park.
Cornelian cherry trees (Cornus mas) are in bloom at Schenley. Photos of the whole tree and a blossom closeup.
Yet the rest of the forest is still quite brown. The smaller American beech trees (Fagus grandifolia) stand out with dry pale leaves. Photo from afar and a close-up.
Getting outdoors is not cancelled.
Stay safe.
(photos by Kate St. John)
20 March 2020
Spring is coming ready or not. Take a breather from COVID-19 news with some signs of spring. My friends and I have gone outdoors alone, then emailed updates and photos when we get home. Here’s what we’ve found.
Yesterday Donna Foyle found snow trillium and scarlet cup mushrooms at Cedar Creek Park in Westmoreland County.
I’ve been to Schenley Park, Raccoon Creek, and Moraine State Parks where I’ve seen daffodils, coltsfoot, alder catkins, red maple flowers, and spring beauties. See the captions for descriptions, locations, and dates.
And finally, an audio treat. Wood frogs and spring peepers were calling at Moraine State Park on Sunday afternoon 15 March 2020.
Getting outdoors is not cancelled!
Just maintain a safe distance from each other (6 feet) and wear muck boots. It’s mud season.
(photos & video by Donna Foyle and Kate St. John)
