Flora Pittsburghensis

Category: Ranunculaceae

  • Vigin’s Bower (Clematis virginiana)

    Clematis virginiana

    Our native autumn Clematis, very similar at first glance to the Asiatic Autumn Clematis (Clematis terniflora) that has made itself at home in our city lots. The leaves, however, are quite different: they are three-parted, with a tendency to be toothed, especially toward the ends of the leaflets. These vines were running rampant through the other flora and up and down a telephone pole along the Montour Trail in Moon Township.

    Other common names include Traveler’s Joy and Love Vine.

    Virgin’s Bower
    Clematis virginiana

    For a description of the species, see the Clematis virginiana reference page.

    Traveler’s Joy

  • Love-in-a-Mist (Nigella damascena)

    Nigella damascena
    Photographed May 21 with a Kodak EasyShare Z981.

    This popular garden flower often escapes, and where a patch has once been planted, it reseeds itself year after year, spreading to wherever the seeds are carried by rain and gravity. It’s known by a large number of common names, among them Persian Jewels and Rattlebox. The latter name refers to the seed pods, which grow to balls about an inch in diameter that rattle when the seeds ripen and dry. These plants were growing on a bank in Beechview.

    Love-in-a-Mist
    Photographed May 24 with a Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z6.

    For Gray’s description of the species, see the Nigella damascena reference page.

  • Blisterwort (Ranunculus recurvatus)

    Ranunculus recurvatus
    Photographed May 12 with a Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z6.

    Also known as Hooked Crowfoot or Hooked Buttercup, this is another small and easily ignored species of buttercup. The plants favor moist woodlands, frequently in fairly dim light; they often form colonies along forest paths. This plant was growing in Bird Park, Mount Lebanon.

    For Gray’s description of the species, see the Ranunculus recurvatus reference page.

  • Creeping Buttercup (Ranunculus repens)

    Ranunculus repens

    A common guest in our lawns, where you might as well get used to it, because it won’t go away without a fight. Children love the reflective petals, and they look particularly poetic with raindrops on them. The plants are poisonous, but they taste so awful (we are told) that cases of poisoning by buttercup are exceedingly rare.

    Creeping Buttercup
    Photographed May 4 with a Kodak EasyShare Z981.

    For a description of the species, see the Ranunculus repens reference page.

  • False Rue-Anemone (Enemion biternatum)

    Enemion biternatum

    Though this species is not recorded as established in Allegheny County, or indeed in Pennsylvania, this large patch has been flourishing for years along the Trillium Trail in Fox Chapel. (It is possible that it was introduced there, but it is certainly naturalized by now.)

    False Rue-Anemone
    Photographed April 22 with a Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z6.

    For a description of the species, see the Enemion biternatum reference page.