This is Blue Cohosh when it is out of its Bela Lugosi phase but still blooming. It looks much more like a normal plant when its leaves have unfolded and turned green.
For a description of the species, see the Caulophyllum thalictroides reference page.
Weird little flowers that pop out of the ground almost pre-bloomed, while the leaves are still forming themselves.
After a while, the plants start to lose their color and the leaves start to unfold, and the plants look more like ordinary denizens of the temperate woods.
For more pictures, see the Caulophyllum thalictroides reference page.
Close-up pictures of the beautiful but decidedly odd flowers of Mayapple. These plants were blooming in Bird Park, Mount Lebanon.
For a description of the species, see the Podophyllum peltatum reference page.
A foreign invader; it makes a fine hedge, but it is beginning to show up where it is not wanted. The red-leaved form is rarely found in the wild; this one was growing deep in the woods in Fox Chapel, where it was blooming in early May.
The National Park Service (in a “least wanted” posting) gives us this description:
Japanese barberry is a dense, deciduous, spiny shrub that grows 2 to 8 ft. high. The branches are brown, deeply grooved, somewhat zig-zag in form and bear a single very sharp spine at each node. The leaves are small (½ to 1 ½ inches long), oval to spatula-shaped, green, bluish-green, or dark reddish purple. Flowering occurs from mid-April to May in the northeastern U.S. Pale yellow flowers about ¼ in (0.6 cm) across hang in umbrella-shaped clusters of 2-4 flowers each along the length of the stem. The fruits are bright red berries about 1/3 in (1 cm) long that are borne on narrow stalks. They mature during late summer and fall and persist through the winter.
A foreign invader; it makes a fine hedge, but it is beginning to show up where it is not wanted. The tiny flowers probably go unnoticed most of the time, but they make a very pretty display close up. The long thorns and spoon-shaped leaves are distinctive. This one was blooming at the beginning of May on a wooded hillside in Mount Lebanon.
The National Park Service (in a “least wanted” posting) gives us this description:
Japanese barberry is a dense, deciduous, spiny shrub that grows 2 to 8 ft. high. The branches are brown, deeply grooved, somewhat zig-zag in form and bear a single very sharp spine at each node. The leaves are small (½ to 1 ½ inches long), oval to spatula-shaped, green, bluish-green, or dark reddish purple. Flowering occurs from mid-April to May in the northeastern U.S. Pale yellow flowers about ¼ in (0.6 cm) across hang in umbrella-shaped clusters of 2-4 flowers each along the length of the stem. The fruits are bright red berries about 1/3 in (1 cm) long that are borne on narrow stalks. They mature during late summer and fall and persist through the winter.
