A tidy plant easily mistaken for a small shrub, especially when it grows at the edge of the woods with the rest of the undergrowth. It belongs to the same family that gives us our garden periwinkles. The red stem and smooth, elliptical leaves give the plant an elegant appearance, and the little flowers look as though they were made from the finest porcelain. The plant is poisonous, however; the name “dogbane” attaches itself to the whole family for good reason. The blooming season begins in June and extends into July. These plants were blooming in the middle of June on a roadside in Banksville.
More at the full
article.
A somewhat uncommon plant in western Pennsylvania. It blooms from May into early June. To judge by the way it grew here in Beechview, it likes moist soil at the edge of the woods. The family resemblance to the more common Virginia Waterleaf is obvious, but the flowers of Appendaged Waterleaf are a middle blue or blue-violet color, and the leaves are maple-shaped.
More at the full
article.
These pretty little flowers are not recorded as
growing in the wild around here, but this plant grew
spontaneously in the city in a place where English
Bluebells had not previously been planted. The arched
stem, dangling blue-violet bells, and yellow
stamens distinguish this from any similar
species. (More
at the full article.)
This year’s Trillium erectum at Bird Park, Mount Lebanon. The patch may be dwindling there; there seem to be fewer plants than in previous years.
Also known as Cranesbill, because of the distinctive seedpods that look like the head of a long-billed bird. The “bill” is an ingenious spring-loaded mechanism that, when the pod dries, suddenly releases and flings the seeds into the air with amazing force. The five-petaled flowers come in shades of pink ranging from lavender to deep rose.
Wild Geranium is a popular garden perennial for shady yards; its close relatives, the florists’ geraniums (which have similar crane’s-bill seedpods), are placed in the genus Pelargonium by botanists. They bloom from late April through May. (More at the full article.)