Author: Father Pitt

  • Common Vetch (Vicia sativa)

    Common Vetch (Vicia sativa)
    Photographed May 29.

    An adaptable weed also extensively planted as forage. The tiny flowers are easily missed in a weed patch, but a close look reveals that they are perfect miniature sweet peas. Ants seem to love it, and we have several pictures here of ant guests enjoying the plant and probably pollinating the flowers. These vines were all blooming on the grounds of Fallingwater in Mill Run.

    Common Vetch (Vicia sativa)
    Ant on Vetch
    Ant on Vetch
    Common Vetch (Vicia sativa)
    Common Vetch (Vicia sativa)
    Common Vetch (Vicia sativa)
    Common Vetch (Vicia sativa)

    Comments
  • Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum)

    Photographed May 29.

    A common woodland plant, but being common does not make it any less weird. The common name seems a good description: the spadix really does look like a black-cloaked preacher standing in an old-fashioned pulpit with a sounding board above. This plant was blooming on the grounds of Fallingwater in Mill Run.

    For a description of the species, see the Arisaema triphyllum reference page.

  • Herb-Robert (Geranium robertianum)

    Geranium robertianum
    Photographed May 29.

    A beloved European import that covers itself with little striped geranium flowers. These plants were blooming on the grounds of Fallingwater in Mill Run.

    Herb-Robert
    Robert’s Geranium
    Geranium robertianum flower close up
    Geranium robertianum

    Comments
  • American Alumroot (Heuchera americana)

    Heuchera americana
    Photographed May 29.

    The flowers are tiny green bells with dangling stamens. The leaves may sometimes show interesting colors, and many garden varieties have been bred for their foliage.

    These plants were growing on the grounds of Fallingwater in Mill Run.

    Close view of flower of American Alumroot
    Leaf of Heuchera americana
  • Spiderwort (Tradescantia virginiana)

    Blue Tradescantia virginiana
    Photographed June 1.

    The three equal petals, dangling buds, and long grassy leaves distinguish this plant from anything else. It is a common garden flower, and in the city is often found as a garden escape, even though it is also native to our area. The flowers bloom in colors ranging from blue through violet to purple. In these pictures, the blue flowers were growing in the hamlet of Woodville in Scott Township; the purple ones were growing on the grounds of Fallingwater in Mill Run.

    Purple Spiderwort
    Photographed May 29.
    Blue Spiderwort
    Purple Tradescantia virginiana
    Blue Tradescantia virginiana

    For a description of the species, see the Tradescantia virginiana reference page.

    Purple Spiderwort

    Comments