As they age, the flowers of the Great White Trillium often turn rosy, which is a lesson for us all. Here are a few that were pinkening along the Trillium Trail in Fox Chapel.
The six-pointed white flowers are unmistakable, with six yellow-tipped stamens whose flattened “filaments” seem to form a miniature duplicate flower inside the larger one. This is a European import that often makes itself at home in weed patches; this plant was blooming at the edge of the woods in Bird Park, Mount Lebanon.
These charming little green bells are usually invisible from human level; you have to get down to plant level and gently lift up the leaves, and there they are.
The leaves seem to provide an ideal lurking place for tiny spiders. The pictures above were taken in the Kane Woods Nature Area in Scott Township; the one below was taken in Fox Chapel.
For a description of the species, see the Polygonatum pubescens reference page. Note that there are two very similar species of Polygonatum in our area, treated by some botanists as indistinguishable; if any botanically inclined readers believe that these plants are P. biflora rather than P. pubescens, corrections are always welcome.
Though they are not recorded as wild in Pennsylvania by the usual botanical authorities, these dainty bells sometimes pop up unexpectedly as volunteers. This small volunteer patch has been at the same place in Beechview for a few years now, so we can regard it as established and spreading.