A poisonous member of the tomato family, also known as Deadly Nightshade, though it is not the deadlier nightshade preferred by Borgias as a solution to intractable political problems. The pretty purple flowers often peek out from hedges, and the berries are just about the brightest and purest red in the vegetable kingdom.
For a description of the species, see the Solanum dulcamara reference page.
Our only bright orange dandelion-like flower, impossible to confuse with anything else. In many modern classifications this is placed in the genus Pilosella as Pilosella aurantiaca, but the taxonomy is still more confused than old Pa Pitt cares to sort out. It is not a common flower in the city of Pittsburgh, but a little bit to the north it becomes ubiquitous. St. Peter’s Cemetery in Arlington is one of the places in Pittsburgh where Orange Hawkweed does grow, and that is where these plants were photographed.
A delicate-looking little morning glory that mostly clambers along the ground and is well adapted to survive in frequently mowed fields.
It seems to make bees happy, and we approve of things that make bees happy. The bee gives us a good idea of the scale of the flower.
Colors vary from pure white into deep pink, often with stripes.
These plants were all blooming in St. Peter’s Cemetery in the Arlington neighborhood of Pittsburgh.
For a description of the species, see the Convolvulus arvensis reference page.
”Giant” is relative to the minuscule flowers on most chickweeds: these flowers are still small, but this is a showy chickweed. It generally likes damp environments, but it’s adaptable. These were growing beside a sidewalk in the Central Square district of Mount Lebanon.
Some authorities place this plant in the genus Myosoton—a dispute that has apparently been going on for decades, since it is so listed in the 1951 Check List of the Vascular Flora of Allegheny County. The Wikimedia Commons category for Stellaria aquatica redirects to Myosoton aquaticum, which has a link to the Wikipedia article on Myosoton, which redirects to the article on Stellaria, where Myosoton is not mentioned. We have decided to follow Gray until you botanists sort this thing out. For a description of the species, see the Stellaria aquatica reference page.
This is either Circaea lutetiana or Circaea canadensis or Circaea lutetiana ssp. canadensis. Some botanists consider the North American populations to be a separate species from the European ones, but others—like the USDA PLANTS Database—put them together as one species, or make the North American ones a subspecies of the European species.
At any rate, it is a charming little flower that can bloom in deep shade. The flowers are tiny, but unusually shaped, and deserve a closer look. The neat habit of the plant makes it suitable for shade gardens, and it is becoming popular among native-plant enthusiasts.
These plants were photographed in Bird Park, Mount Lebanon, where the species is abundant.
For a description of the species, see the Circaea lutetiana reference page.
