Listed as Chrysanthemum parthenium in many references. The plants bear dozens of little daisy flowers, and in some specimens—like these from Schenley Park—the rays crowd themselves so much that they create a doubling effect, which has been bred into full doubles in garden varieties.
A variable plant with flowers ranging from deep violet to white. It is adaptable to every habitat from open woods to fields, and often pops up in lawns, where it will bloom very low to the ground and sometimes escape the mower. The flower heads that develop into thick thumbs are distinctive. The plants above and below were blooming in a field in South Park.
This plant was blooming in mowed grass in Schenley Park.
For a description of the species, see the Prunella vulgaris reference page.
Black and gold—a perfect Pittsburgh flower. Black-Eyed Susan is often planted as an ornamental, but it is also native in our area, as indeed it is in much of the eastern half of the United States. This large stand was blooming in a field in South Park.
One of our few really orange flowers (Daylilies and Touch-Me-Nots are other members of that exclusive club), Butterfly Weed likes an open field, where it attracts legions of insects of all sorts—butterflies, of course, but also bees and ants. These plants were among hundreds blooming in wildflower meadows in South Park.
For a description of the species, see the Asclepias tuberosa reference page.
Brought over as a forage crop, White Sweet Clover has made itself thoroughly at home. We may call it a weed, but it does not seem to crowd out the natives, and in general restricts itself to places that need some cheering up, like vacant lots.
For a description of the species, see the Melilotus albus reference page.
