Like bright yellow asters, these cheery composite flowers come out in time for Mayday. These were blooming in the Kane Woods Nature Area in Scott Township. There is nothing else like them blooming in the spring around here, so they are easy to recognize.
For a description of the species, see the Packera aurea reference page.
Coltsfoot is up and blooming, pushing its way through the leaf litter in Bird Park, Mount Lebanon.
For a description, see the Tussilago farfara reference page.
Chicory is almost always blue, but like many blue flowers it can sometimes appear in a pink or white form. This pure-white Chicory was growing in a cemetery in Etna.
For a fuller description, see the Cichorium intybus reference page.
Also known by the much more poetical name “Blue Sailors,” but we must admit we have never heard that name used in Pittsburgh. Chicory is everywhere along the roadside and in vacant lots; this plant was blooming by the side of Saw Mill Run Boulevard not far from the Liberty Tunnels.
For a fuller description, see the Cichorium intybus reference page.
Also known as Pilosella aurantiaca, this is one of our most spectacular weeds. If you draw a line right across the middle of Pennsylvania from east to west, you will mark the southern border of the range where Orange Hawkweed is common. There are, however, isolated stations in the city of Pittsburgh, one of which is St. Peter’s Cemetery in Arlington, where these pictures were taken on June 3.
