Flora Pittsburghensis

Author: Father Pitt

  • Bugles (Ajuga reptans)

    The common blue form of this popular groundcover; there is also a much rarer lavender form. This one was blooming in early May at the edge of the woods in Mount Lebanon.

    Although Gray says this species is “smooth or but slightly pubescent,” this particular plant looks rather fuzzy up on the flower stalk. The similar Ajuga genevensis is supposed to be a hairier species, but it lacks the creeping stolons characteristic of Ajuga reptans, and this plant was stoloning up a storm. We therefore identify it as a slightly fuzzier-than-average Ajuga reptans.

    AJUGA L. BUGLE WEED

    Calyx 5-toothed. The large and spreading lower lip of the corolla with the middle lobe emarginate or 2-cleft. Stamens as in Teucrium, but anther- cells less confluent. (From a- privative, and xygon, Latin jugum, yoke, from the seeming absence of a yoke-fellow to the lower lip of the corolla.)

    A. reptans L. Perennial, 1-2.5 dm. high, smooth or but slightly pubescent, with copious creeping stolons; leaves obovate or spatulate, sometimes sinuate, the cauline sessile, the floral approximate, subtending several sessile blue flowers. Locally in fields, Me. and Que. to s. N. V. May-July. (Nat. from Eu.)

  • Morrow’s Honeysuckle (Lonicera morrowi)

    A tall bush (six feet or more) with flowers very much like those on Japanese Honeysuckle, both white and buff on the same bush. (Like Japanese Honeysuckle, it came from Japan.) It grows at the edge of the woods, and is particularly fond of roadsides. This bush grew at the wooded edge of a yard in Mount Lebanon, where it was blooming in early May.

    Gray describes the genus and the species:

    LONICERA L. HONEYSUCKLE

    Calyx-teeth very short. Corolla tubular or funnel-form, often gibbous at the base, irregularly or almost regularly 5-lobed. Berry several-seeded. Erect or climbing shrubs. Leaves entire. Flowers often showy and fragrant. (Named in honor of Adam Lonitzer, latinized Lonicerus, a German herbalist of the 16th century.) A large boreal genus most abundant in Asia and long popular in cultivation.

    L. morrowi Gray. Shrub, 1.5-2 m. high, soft-downy; branches spreading; leaves oblong, rounded or subcordate at base, dark green and somewhat rugose above, much paler and grayish-tomentose beneath, obtuse or barely acutish; calyx-teeth hirsute or ciliate; corolla-lobes subequal, nearly as long as the tube, widely spreading, white or cream-colored ; berries bright red. Frequently cultivated, and now locally established in e. Mass. (Introd. from Japan.)

  • Speedwell (Veronica officinalis)

    Surely these would be some of our most treasured ornamentals if they were just a little larger. Other members of the genus Veronica find honored places in our gardens, but the tiny Common Speedwells pass unnoticed under our lawn mowers. They’re worth examining closely. Magnified, as here, they turn out to be spectacular flowers. They’re found everywhere lawn grass is found; this one was blooming in Mount Lebanon at the end of April.

    Gray describes the genus and the species:

    VERONICA [Tourn.] L. SPEEDWELL

    The lateral lobes of the corolla or the lowest one commonly narrower than the others. Stamens 2, one each side of the upper lobe of the corolla, exserted; anther-cells confluent at the apex. Style entire; stigma single. Capsule flat- tened, obtuse or notched at the apex, 2-celled, few-many-seeded. Chiefly herbs ; flowers blue, flesh-color, or white. (Derivation doubtful; perhaps the flower of St. Veronica.)

    V. officinalis L. (COMMON S.) Pubescent; stem prostrate, rooting at base ; leaves short-petioled, obovate-elliptical or wedge-oblong, obtuse, serrate; racemes densely many-flowered; pedicels shorter than the calyx; capsule obovate- triangular, broadly notched. Dry hills and open woods, Nfd. to Ont., Mich., and southw. May-Aug. (Eurasia.)

  • Deptford Pink (Dianthus armeria)

    These little flowers were brought over as cottage-garden staples, but they liked it here well enough to adopt it as their new home. They’re not unusual, but still just uncommon enough that running across one in a vacant lot is an unexpected delight. They seem to prefer poor soil, and up on Presque Isle can be found in great numbers just behind the dunes. This one was blooming beside a sidewalk in Beechview in early June.

    Gray describes the genus and the species:

    DIANTHUS L. PINK, CARNATION
    Calyx cylindrical, nerved or striate, 5-toothed, subtended by 2 or more imbricated bractlets. Stamens 10. Styles 2. Pod 1-celled, 4-valved at the apex. Seeds flattish on the back; embryo scarcely curved. —Ornamental plants, of well-known aspect and value in cultivation. (Name from Dios, of Jupiter, and anthos, flower, i.e. Jove’s own flower.)

    D. ARMERIA L. (DEPTFORD P.) Annual; flowers clustered; bractlets of the calyx and bracts lance-awl-form, herbaceous, downy, as long as the tube; leaves linear, hairy; petals small, rose-color with white dots, crenate. Fields, etc., Mass, to Va., w. to s. Ont., Mich., and Ia. July. (Adv. from Eu.)

  • Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum)

    Also known as Dogtooth Violet or Adder’s Tongue, this very attractive plant is as remarkable for its mottled leaves as for its yellow flowers. It likes wooded stream valleys where the soil is very rich and moist. This one was blooming in late April in the Squaw Run valley, Fox Chapel.

    Gray describes the genus and the species:

    ERYTHRONIUM L. DOG’S-TOOTH VIOLET

    Perianth lily-like, of 6 lanceolate recurved or spreading divisions, deciduous, the 3 inner usually with a callous tooth on each side of the base, and a groove in the middle. Filaments 6, awl-shaped; anthers oblong-linear. Style elongated. Capsule obovoid, contracted at base, 3-valved, loculicidal. Seeds rather numerous. Nearly stemless herbs, with two smooth and shining flat leaves tapering into petioles and sheathing the base of the commonly one-flowered scape, rising from a deep solid scaly bulb. Flowers rather large, nodding, in spring. (The Greek name for the purple-flowered European species, from erythros, red. )

    E. americanum Ker. (YELLOW ADDER’S-TONGUE). Scape 1.5-2 dm. high; leaves elliptical-lanceolate, pale green, mottled with purplish and whitish and often minutely dotted; perianth light yellow, often spotted near the base (2-4 cm. long); style club-shaped; stigmas united. Rich ground, N. B. to Fla. , w. to Out. and Ark.