Flora Pittsburghensis

Author: Father Pitt

  • Foxglove Beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis)

    A relative of snapdragons and Butter-and-Eggs, this cheery flower also bears a passing resemblance to a foxglove, whence both the common and scientific names. The name “Beardtongue” comes from the hairy stamen visible in each flower. The plant likes a sunny open field or clearing, although it will tolerate some shade; this plant was blooming in early June in a clearing in Scott Township.

    Most earlier botanical references spell the genus name Pentstemon, which may be more etymologically correct but apparently is not the way it was spelled in the original description.

    Traditionally, botanists placed snapdragons and their allies in the Snapdragon or Figwort family, Scrophulariaceae; but modern genetic research has led botanists to move them into the Plantain family, Plantaginaceae.

    Gray makes this species a variety of P. laevigatus, so we turn to Alphonso Wood for a description of the genus and the species more in line with the consensus of modern botanists:

    PENTSTEMON, L. Beard-tongue. Calyx deeply 5-cleft. Cor. elongated, often ventricous, lower lip 3-lobed, spreading. The fifth filament (tongue) sterile, bearded, longer than the rest or about as long; anth. smooth. Seeds numerous, angular, not margined. Perennial N. American, branching, paniculate. Leaves opposite, the lower petiolate, upper sessile or clasping. Flowers showy, red, violet, blue, or white, in Summer.

    Native E. of the Mississippi River, sometimes cultivated.

    Leaves undivided, serrulate. Sterile filament (tongue) bearded.

    P. digitalis N. Glabrous; leaves elliptic to lanceolate, the upper clasping; flowers many, large, corolla tube abruptly enlarged to bell-form, pale blue or purplish, 12—15″ long, throat widely open, beardless. Rich soils, Pa., W. and S.

  • Feverfew (Chrysanthemum parthenium)

    A garden favorite that sometimes makes itself at home here, especially in the city. This plant was blooming on a bank in Beechview in early June. Feverfew is named for its supposed fever-reducing effects, though modern science has looked for those effects and failed to find them. The cheery flowers are like generous clusters of small daisies.

    Botanists often place this species in the genus Tanacetum with the Tansies, but it is most familiar under the name Chrysanthemum, which is where Gray puts it:

    CHRYSANTHEMUM [Tourn.] L. OX-EYE DAISY. Heads many-flowered; rays numerous, fertile. Scales of the broad and flat involucre imbricated, with scarious margins. Receptacle flat or convex, naked. Disk-corollas with a flattened tube. Achenes of disk and ray similar, striate. — Annual or perennial herbs, with toothed, pinnatifid, or divided leaves, and single or corymbed heads. Rays white or yellow (rarely wanting); disk yellow. (Old Greek name, Chrysanthemon, i.e. golden flower.)

    C. parthènium (L.) Bernh. (FEVERFEW.) Tall, branched, leafy; leaves bipinnately divided, the divisions ovate, cut; rays white. — Escaped from gardens, and naturalized in some places. (Introd. from Eu.)

  • Silky Dogwood (Cornus amomum)

    The Dogwoods we know best are the “flowering” varieties—which actually have inconspicuous little green flowers surrounded by a showy involucre of white or pink. (Cornus florida is native to our area; Cornus kousa is often planted as an ornamental.) But this very attractive shrub or small tree forgoes the spectacular false petals and makes its show by clustering its little white flowers together.

    This tree was one of many growing along a little country lane through the woods near Cranberry, where it was blooming at the end of May.

    It is very difficult to tell the difference between this species and Narrow-Leaved Dogwood, C. obliqua, which many botanists regard as a variety of C. amomum. So Gray, who lists C. obliqua as C. purpusi, but says that it “appears to be an inconstant form rather than a distinct species.” As always, if our identification is wrong here, any help is appreciated.

    Here is Gray’s description:

    CÓRNUS [Tourn.] L. CORNEL, DOGWOOD. Flowers perfect (or in some foreign species dioecious). Calyx minutely 4-toothed. Petals 4, oblong, spreading. Stamens 4; filaments slender. Style slender; stigma terminal, flat or capitate. Drupe small, with a 2-celled and 2-seeded stone. — Leaves opposite (except in one species), entire. Flowers small, in open naked cymes, or in close heads surrounded by a corolla-like involucre. (Name from cornu, a horn; alluding to the hardness of the wood.)

    С amòmum Mill. (SILKY C., KINNIKINNIK.) Shrub, 1-3 m. nigh; branches purplish; the branchlets, stalks, and lower surface of the ovate or elliptical pointed leaves silky-downy (often rusty), pale and dull, not microscopically papillose; cymes flat, close; calyx-teeth lanceolate; fruit pale blue. (С serieea L.) — Wet places, Nfd. to N. D., s. to Fla. and La. June. — C. Purpusi Koehne, with slightly narrower leaves microscopically papillose but not rusty-pubescent beneath, appears to be an inconstant form rather than a distinct species.

  • Purple-Flowering Raspberry (Rubus odoratus)

    The beautiful flowers of this plant vie with wild roses (Rosa spp.) for spectacle, and indeed it is often planted as an ornamental. In the wild, it prefers a semi-shaded hillside; these were growing on a hill above the Allegheny River Boulevard near Verona, where they were blooming in late May. The leaves are more or less maple-shaped. The raspberry-like fruit, alas, is no good for eating.

    Gray describes the genus and the species:

    RÙBUS [Tourn.] L. BRAMBLE. Calyx 6 (3-7)-parted, without bractlets. Petals 5, deciduous. Stamens numerous. Achenes usually many, collected on a spongy or succulent receptacle, becoming small drupes; styles nearly terminal. — Perennial herbs, or somewhat shrubby plants, with white (rarely reddish) flowers, and usually edible fruit. (The Roman name, kindred with ruber, red.)

    ANAPLÓBATUS Focke. Unarmed shrubs; leaves simple, 5-6-lobed or angled; flowers large and showy; fruit large, hemispherical, red. Rubacer Rydb.

    R. odoràtus L. (PURPLE FLOWERING R.) Shrubby, 1-1.6 m. high; branches, stalks, and calyx bristly with glandular-clammy hairs; leaves 3-5-lobed, the lobes pointed and minutely toothed, the middle one prolonged; peduncles many-flowered; flowers showy (3-6 cm. broad); calyx-lobes tipped with a long narrow appendage; petals rounded, purple rose-color: fruit scarcely edible. — N. S. to Ga., w. to Mich.

  • Lamb’s Ear (Stachys byzantina)

    The fleshy soft, hairy leaves delight children and any adult not too far gone to take pleasure in simple tactile sensations. The purple flowers make a gorgeous contrast to the whitish hairs of the leaves and stems, but appear only for a relatively short time. This is a garden favorite that seeds itself liberally: once you plant Lamb’s Ears, you have them forever, and they pop up in unexpected places. They can often be found in the city as an escape; these plants were growing on a bank in Beechview, where they were blooming in the middle of May.

    Gray describes the genus Stachys; in his time, this particular species had not established itself in the wild enough for him to take notice of it.

    STÂCHYS [Tourn.] L. HEDGE NETTLE. Corolla not dilated at the throat; upper lip erect or rather spreading, often arched, entire or nearly so; the lower usually longer and spreading, 3-lobed, with the middle lobe largest and nearly entire. Stamens 4, ascending under the upper lip (often reflexed on the throat after flowering); anthers approximate in pairs. Nutlets obtuse, not truncate. — Whorls 2-many-flowered, approximate in a terminal raceme or spike (whence the name, from stachys, a spike).

    Although Gray does not describe the species S. byzantina, no description is really necessary. No other Stachys in our area has anything like the silver-haired foliage of this plant; it is nearly impossible to misidentify.