Flora Pittsburghensis

Author: Father Pitt

  • Heal-All (Prunella vulgaris)

    Heal-All (Prunella vulgaris)
    Photographed July 4.

    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.

    Heal-All (Prunella vulgaris) blooming in South Park, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
    Heal-All (Prunella vulgaris) blooming in Schenley Park, Pittsburgh
    Photographed June 12.

    This plant was blooming in mowed grass in Schenley Park.

    For a description of the species, see the Prunella vulgaris reference page.

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  • Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)

    Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) blooming in South Park, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
    Photographed July 4.

    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.

    Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) blooming in South Park, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
    Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) blooming in South Park, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
    Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) blooming in South Park, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
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  • Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)

    Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)
    Photographed July 4.

    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.

    Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)
    Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)
    Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)

    For a description of the species, see the Asclepias tuberosa reference page.

    Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)
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  • White Sweet Clover (Melilotus albus)

    White Sweet Clover (Melilotus albus)
    Photographed July 2.

    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.

    White Sweet Clover (Melilotus albus)

    For a description of the species, see the Melilotus albus reference page.

    White Sweet Clover (Melilotus albus)
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  • Field Bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis)

    Photographed July 2.

    Delicate little morning-glory flowers often found running prostrate on the ground in a lawn, although the vines will climb several feet if they get a footing in tall weeds. These were growing in a weed patch along an alley in Carnegie.

    For a description of the species, see the Convolvulus arvensis reference page.