Bottle gentian gone to seed (photo by Kate St. John)
30 October 2018
Bottle or closed gentian (Gentiana andrewsii) blooms in September in western Pennsylvania. By the end of October it’s gone to seed.
In bloom this gentian’s tightly closed petals prevent most insects from reaching its nectar, though bumblebees can force their way in.
Bottle gentian in bloom, September 2015 (photo by Kate St. John)
Carpenter bees take a shortcut. They drill a hole in the petals to access the pollen and nectar. Once there’s a hole, honeybees and other small insects use it, too.
When I found the faded gentian shown above, I plucked a dried flower to examine the seeds. Aha! The closed petals have two holes in them. The seed pod also has two curled knobs at the top.
Birds that eat insects leave Pennsylvania for the winter but the omnivores, like this house sparrow, stay behind. Food won’t be a problem but it’s going to get cold so the house sparrows get ready in advance.
A study by Lowther and Cink in 1992 found that house sparrows (Passer domesticus) prepare for winter by molting into heavier plumage. Plumage weight increased 70% between August and September alone. Summer weight is 0.9 grams; winter weight is 1.5 grams.
In September the house sparrows put on their winter coats.
(photo from Wikimedia Commons; click on the caption to see the original. This article was inspired by page 153 of Ornithology by Frank B. Gill, 3rd edition.) )
Twenty years ago our fall foliage reached its peak around October 15 but today — only one day before the 15th — the leaves have just begun to change. We had the same situation last year as shown in my photo taken at Moraine State Park on 15 October 2017.
Delayed timing makes it hard to know when fall color will reach its peak but the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry (DCNR) is here to help. Check out their Fall Foliage Guide complete with an interactive map and weekly reports. The October 11-17, 2018 forecast map is shown below (yellow means “approaching best color”). Click here or on the caption to see the full report.
Woolly bear: Isabella Tiger Moth caterpillar (photo by Kate St. John)
It’s early October and the woolly bear caterpillars are back, right on time. But one thing is very odd. The weather is quite hot.
The temperature outlook map shows what we already know: There’s a 70% chance October 2018 will be warmer than normal in Pittsburgh. Highs will be in the 80s today through Wednesday (Oct 7-10)
How is this affecting the plants and animals we usually see in October?
In a normal October 20 years ago, fall foliage color would peak in Pittsburgh by the middle of October, sparrows and ducks would migrate through our area, and the average first frost would occur around October 15. Will those things happen on time this year?
ISeeChange.org is interested in the answer. They’re wondering: “What do you usually expect at this time of year? What does it look like outdoors, sound like, smell like, feel like? Are your expectations met, or are things different? Are there trends in your community that we need to be paying attention to?”
Scaly blazing star, July 2018 (photo by Dianne Machesney)
Yellow flowers are abundant in the summer while some of the rarest flowers are purple. Here are four rare plants I’ve never seen.
Dianne Machesney visited Lynx Prairie in Adams County, Ohio in late July to see scaly blazing star (Liatris squarrosa), above. It doesn’t occur in Pennsylvania though we have it’s cousin dense blazing star (Liatris spicata) at Jennings Prairie. The two plants differ in this way: “Scaly” flowers are clustered at the tip, “dense” flowers coat the long spike.
Male scarlet tanager on an ash tree, August 2015, Chemung County, NY (photo by Tim Lenz via Flickr, Creative Commons license)
Yesterday in Schenley Park I saw a scarlet tanager with blotches on his belly. He was starting to turn green.
Scarlet tanagers (Piranga olivacea) molt twice a year. In January through March they molt into breeding or “alternate” plumage while on their wintering grounds in South America. The females don’t change color but the males turn from green to scarlet. Young males often retain a bit of green (click here to see).
When the breeding season is over, they molt back to basic plumage in July through September. The males look blotchy at first but when they’re done they’re bright olive green with black wings as shown below. By then they’re on their way to South America.
(photo at top in August, Tim Lenz; photo below in Oct, Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren)
Scarlet tanager in October 2015 (photo by Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren via Flickr, Creative Commons license)
I was lucky to see yesterday’s scarlet tanager because he hardly made a sound. Tanagers have stopped singing now that breeding is over. This one was singing very softly.
p.s. Did you know that female scarlet tanagers sing? According to All About Birds: “The female Scarlet Tanager sings a song similar to the male’s, but softer, shorter, and less harsh. She sings in answer to the male’s song and while she is gathering nesting material.”
Moth mullein (Verbascum blattaria) is blooming now in western Pennsylvania. Though it’s closely related to common mullein it hardly looks alike.
This biennial in the Figwort Family (Scrophulariaceae) grows a rosette of basal leaves in its first year, then sprouts a flower stalk that grows 1.5 to 3 feet tall in year two. Its white or yellow flowers bloom from bottom to top.
Native to Eurasia and Africa, moth mullein was first noticed in Pennsylvania in 1818. It’s not invasive in Pennsylvania but is listed as a noxious weed in Colorado.
Look for moth mullein in waste places and pastures. It’s not named for what it does, but for what it looks like: A flower that resembles a moth.
Fruit is forming on Large-flowered Bellwort, 29 June 2014 (photo by Kate St. John)
In late June the spring flowers are gone and summer flowers haven’t bloomed yet. I find it hard to identify plants without flowers but this one was rather easy.
The leaves are perfoliate and alternate on the stem. The six-sided fruit indicates the flower had six parts. The fruit stem pierces the leaf.
Here’s a plant with these characteristics. Large-flowered bellwort (Uvularia grandiflora) has six petals and the stems pierce the leaves.
Large-flowered bellwort in bloom (photo by Kate St. John)
In late June bellwort fruit is still puffy looking. Eventually it will shrink into three lobes. Click here to see.
