Category: Liliaceae

  • Great White Trillium Turning Pink (Trillium grandiflorum)

    Trillium grandiflorum aging to pink

    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.

    Great White Trillium turned pink
    Great White Trillium in pink
    Photographed April 29.

    For a description of the species, see the Trillium grandiflorum reference page.

  • Star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum umbellatum)

    Star of Bethlehem

    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.

    Ornithogalum umbellatum
    Photographed May 2 with a Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z6.

    For a description of the species, see the Ornithogalum umbellatum reference page.

  • Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum pubescens)

    Polygonatum pubescens

    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.

    Solomon’s Seal
    Photographed April 30 with a Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z6.

    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.

    Polygonatum pubescens
    Photographed April 29.

    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.

  • Great White Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum)

    Trillium grandiflorum

    It’s trillium time on the Trillium Trail in Fox Chapel.

    For a description of the species, see the Trillium grandiflorum reference page,

    Great White Trillium
    Trillium grandiflorum
    Trillium grandiflorum
    Trillium grandiflorum
    Trillium grandiflorum
    Photographed April 22 with a Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z6.
  • English Bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta)

    English Bluebells
    Photographed April 20 with a Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z6.

    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.

    For a brief description, see the Hyacinthoides non-scripta reference page.

    Hyacinthoides non-scripta
    Nikon COOLPIX P100.
    English bluebells