Mid-spring flowers are at their peak in the woods, but some of the earlier spring flowers are still blooming.
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A Walk in Bird Park, Mount Lebanon
Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum). 
Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum), photographed May 16. 
Dame’s Rocket (Hesperis matronalis). 
Virginia Waterleaf (Hydrophyllum virginianum). 
Long-Styled Sweet Cecily (Osmorhiza longistylis). 
Long-Styled Sweet Cecily (Osmorhiza longistylis). 
Blue Phlox (Phlox divaricata). 
Creeping Buttercup (Ranunculus repens). -
False Rue-Anemone (Enemion biternatum)
Photographed April 5. This species is not recorded in Pennsylvania in the usual sources. However, its range is discontinuous and spotty, and it is recorded in nearby sections of Ohio, as well as in the Virginia suburbs of Washington. At any rate, this colony along the Trillium Trail in Fox Chapel has been thriving for years.
For more pictures and more of a description, see the Enemion biternatum reference page.
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Vigin’s Bower (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.
For a description of the species, see the Clematis virginiana reference page.
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Love-in-a-Mist (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.
Photographed May 24 with a Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z6. For Gray’s description of the species, see the Nigella damascena reference page.
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Blisterwort (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.
