Flora Pittsburghensis

Author: Father Pitt

  • Orange Touch-Me-Not (Impatiens capensis)

    We have featured this very common flower before; here are some close-up pictures of the flowers. This is what we said the last time Orange Touch-Me-Nots appeared:

    Also called Spotted Touch-Me-Not or Jewelweed. Very similar to the Yellow or Pale Touch-Me Not (I. pallida), and often found in the same colony. Most of the differences are subtle; I. capensis tends to have smaller, darker leaves, often with a noticeable bluish tinge. The flowers, however, leave no doubt about the species: the bright orange of I. capensis is instantly obvious. Since the flowers bloom from late June to the first frost, we can rely on them to identify the plant. These were blooming at the edge of a field near Cranberry in late August.

    The specific name capensis is unfortunate. The botanist who named it thought the specimen came from the Cape Colony in Africa. The names Impatiens fulva and I. biflora were current for much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; but the inflexible rule of priority has asserted the rights of the name capensis, however wrongheaded it may be.

    Gray describes the genus and the species:

    IMPATIENS [Rivinius] L. BALSAM, JEWELWEED. Sepals apparently only 4; the anterior one notched at the apex (probably two combined); the posterior one (appearing anterior as the flower hangs on its stalk) largest, and forming a usually spurred sac. Petals 2, 2-lobed (each a pair united). Filaments appendaged with a scale on the inner side, the б scales connivent over the stigma; anthers introrse. Pod with evanescent partitions, and a thick axis bearing several anatropous seeds; valves 6, coiling elastically and projecting the seeds in dehiscence. — Leaves in ours ovate or oval, coarsely toothed, petioled. Flowers axillary or panicled, often of two sorts, viz., the larger ones which seldom ripen seeds; and very small ones which are fertilized early in the bud, their floral envelopes never expanding but forced off by the growing pod and carried upward on its apex. (Name from the sudden bursting of the pods when touched, whence also the popular appellation.)

    I. biflora Walt. (SPOTTED TOUCH-ME-NOT.) Flowers orange-color, thickly spotted with reddish brown; sac longer than broad, acutely conical, tapering into a strongly inflexed spur half as long as the sac. (I. fulva Nutt) — Rills and shady moist places. June-Sept. —Plant 6-8 dm. high. Forms with spotless, whitish, or roseate flowers have been found.

  • Biennial Gaura (Oenothera gaura)

    A tall member of the Evening Primrose family (Onagraceae) distinguished by its spindly flowers with prominent stamens. It was formerly classified in its own genus as Gaura biennis. It is not a common flower around here, but it is very adaptable in its habitat. These were blooming in the Kane Woods Nature Area, Scott Township, in a clearing near a woodland stream.

  • American Bellflower (Campanula americana)

    Photographed August 15.

    Also known as Campanulastrum americanum by botanists who consider it a fake Campanula. A very tall bellflower usually found in damp areas; these were growing by Saw Mill Run in Seldom Seen. In addition to its height, the long white pistils with curled ends are distinctive. The blooming season begins in June or July, and the plants continue flower off and on until fall. In Father Pitt’s experience, it is neither rare nor common.

    Gray describes the genus and the species:

    C. americàna L. (TALL B.) Annual; stem mostly simple, 0.5–1.8 m. high; leaves ovate and ovate-lanceolate, taper-pointed, serrate, mostly on margined petioles, thin, somewhat hairy, 0.5-1.5 dm. long; spiciform raceme 3-6 dm. long, the flowers solitary or clustered in the axils of the upper leaves and bracts; corolla rotate, light blue, 2.5 cm. broad; capsule glabrous, opening by pores at the summit. — Moist rich soil, Ont. and N.Y. to Neb., s. to Ga. and Ark. June–Aug.

  • Ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia)

    The bane of allergy-sufferers everywhere, Common Ragweed is wind-pollinated: instead of large attractive flower heads, it relies on myriad small pollen-dispensers. The plant in full bloom passes nearly unnoticed, even in large drifts. These plants were growing in the Seldom Seen Greenway, where they were in bloom in the middle of August.

  • Soapwort (Saponaria officinalis)

    Saponaria officinalisPhotographed July 6.

    Also called Bouncing Bet, this cheerful pink came over as a garden flower, but is now thoroughly established along roadsides and at the edge of the woods. The blooming season begins in July. The flowers are very pale pink verging on white; the double forms Gray mentions seldom or never occur in the wild plants seen around Pittsburgh. The name “Soapwort” reminds us that a lathery soap can be made from the plant; it is, however, poisonous.

    Saponaria officinalisPhotographed July 17.

    Gray describes the genus and the species:

    SAPONARIA L. Calyx narrowly ovoid or subcylindric, 5-toothed, obscurely nerved, naked. Stamens 10. Styles 2. Pod 1-celled, or incompletely 2-4-celled at base, 4-toothed at the apex. — Coarse annuals or perennials, with large flowers. (Name from sapo, soap, the mucilaginous juice forming a lather with water.)

    S. officinalis L. (SOAPWORT, BOUNCING BET.) Flowers in corymbed clusters; calyx terete; petals crowned with an appendage at the top of the claw; leaves oval-lanceolate. — Roadsides, etc. July-Sept. — A stout perennial, with large rose-colored flowers, commonly double. (Adv. from Eu.)

    In How to Know the Wild Flowers (1909), Mrs. Dana gives us this description of the plant:

    BOUNCING BET. SOAPWORT.

    Saponaria officinalis. Pink Family.

    Stem.—Rather stout; swollen at the joints. Leaves.—Oval; opposite. Flowers.—Pink or white; clustered. Calyx.—Of five united sepals. Corolla.—Of five pinkish, long-clawed petals (frequently the flowers are double). Stamens.—Ten. Pistil.—One, with two styles.

    A cheery pretty plant is this with large, rose-tinged flowers which are especially effective when double.

    Bouncing Bet is of a sociable turn and is seldom found far from civilization, delighting in the proximity of farm-houses and their belongings, in the shape of children, chickens, and cattle. She comes to us from England, and her “feminine comeliness and bounce” suggest to Mr. Burroughs a Yorkshire housemaid. The generic name is from sapo—soap—and refers to the lather which the juice forms with water, and which is said to have been used as a substitute for soap.