Category Archives: Plants & Fungi

plants & fungi

Seen This Week

Fox sparrow singing at Frick Park, 12 March 2024 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)

16 March 2024

Four days this week were unseasonably warm with highs 18 to 20+ degrees above normal. The flowers and birds responded.

On Tuesday, Charity Kheshgi and I heard a fox sparrow at Frick Park but he was elusive. We spent a long time trying to get a good look him until a blue jay’s weird call made us pause. So did the fox sparrow, as shown above in Charity’s photo.

On Wednesday there were few birds at Toms Run Nature Reserve but we saw purple dead nettle (Lamium purpureum) in bloom.

Purple dead nettle, Toms Run, 13 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

On Thursday 14 March I was surprised at the lack of birds at Raccoon Creek Wildflower Reserve, but the flowers on the Jennings Trail cliff face (bordering the creek) were responding to the heat. It’s not Full Blown Spring yet but I found:

Harbinger of Spring, Raccoon Creek Wildflower Reserve, 14 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Spring beauty, Raccoon Creek Wildflower Reserve, 14 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Sharp-lobed hepatica, Raccoon Creek Wildflower Reserve, 14 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Round-lobed hepatica, Raccoon Creek Wildflower Reserve, 14 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Virginia bluebell budding flower, Raccoon Creek Wildflower Reserve, 14 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Alder catkins, Raccoon Creek Wildflower Reserve, 14 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

And in case you missed it Carla, the female peregrine at Pitt, laid her first egg at the Cathedral of Learning on 14 March. Additional eggs are expected approximately 48 hours apart.

(credits are in the captions)

Seen This Week

Sunny and 75 degrees at Schenley Park, 4 March 2024 at 4pm (photo by Kate St. John)

9 March 2024

The weather doesn’t know what to do with itself in Pittsburgh. Some days it rains all day (today for instance). Some days it’s hot and sunny. Some days it’s chilly and overcast. This week we saw it all.

On Monday and Tuesday hot sunny weather (74-75°F) encouraged everyone to get outdoors. I waited a while to get a photo, above, without a lot of people in it. Just around the bend the sun was so low in the sky at 4:40pm that it made long shadows.

Long shadows and 75 degrees at Schenley Park, 4 March 2024 at 4pm (photo by Kate St. John)

That beautiful day came after a foggy rainy weekend, seen at Duck Hollow below. The Monongahela River was running high because of all the rain.

Duck Hollow, 2 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

All kinds of critters were busy this week including a striped red ant on a trail in Schenley Park. What ant is this? Can you tell me its name?

Striped red ant, Schenley Park, 4 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

On Monday I also found two refugees from water-logged soil on a sidewalk in Oakland. Not earthworms, these are invasive Asian jumping worms. Not good! Click here to see a brief clip of them squirming.

Asian jumping worms on the sidewalk on Craig Street, 4 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

On Thursday 7 March I found new leaves of (maybe) corydalis at Todd Nature Reserve.

New corydalis leaves? Todd Nature Reserve, 7 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

And on the way home I stopped at the Tarentum Bridge to check on the peregrines. The male was perched nearby while the female incubated eggs in the nest. This (lousy) digiscope photo shows the female’s wingtips visible in the nest box as she incubates with her tail toward us. This is early for most peregrines in southwestern PA but not for this bird. She’s always early.

Female peregrine incubating at the Tarentum Bridge nest, 7 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

p.s. Don’t forget to turn your clocks AHEAD tonight. (egads! I fixed that awful typo. Thanks, everyone, for pointing it out.)

Upset Clock (photo by Kate St. John)

(photos by Kate St. John)

Seen This Week

Woodland crocus blooming in the grass on Neville Ave, 1 March 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

2 March 2024

Despite a few cold snaps, this winter has been quite warm in Pittsburgh and the plants are responding. During the past ten days I’ve found:

  • Woodland crocuses (Crocus tommasinianus) blooming in the grass on Neville Avenue and at Schenley Park,
  • Skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) at North Park,
  • Flowering cherry trees blooming at Carnegie Museum.
Skunk cabbage at North Park, 23 Feb 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Flowering cherry at Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh, 29 Feb 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

Despite these signs of spring the overall look of the land is brown. Last Sunday, 25 Feb, I took a walk with the Botanical Society of Western PA at Hays Woods where I learned a new grass.

Botanical Society walk at Hays Woods, 25 Feb 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

Grease grass or purpletop (Tridens flavus) is a native bunchgrass whose seeds are oily, hence the grease name. Claire Staples holds it against a dark background so we can see the seeds.

Greasy grass or purpletop, Tridens flavus, held by Mark Bowers and Claire Staples at Hays Woods, 25 Feb 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

On Thursday I found several species of honeysuckle (Lonicera sp.) leafing out in Schenley Park.

Honeysuckle leaf-out in Schenley Park, 29 Feb 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

Honeysuckle leafout is an spring indicator on the National Phenology Network (USA NPN) so I wondered about the status of spring elsewhere. On 26 February USA NPN wrote:

How does this spring compare to “normal”?
After a slow start to spring in Florida and parts of the Southern Great Plains, spring is spreading more quickly now across the country. Albuquerque, NM is a week early, St. Louis, MO is 2 weeks early, and parts of Washington, D.C. are 22 days early compared to a long-term average of 1991-2020.

USA National Phenology Network, Status of Spring on 26 Feb 2024

Yikes! Spring is running more than 3 weeks early in Washington, DC!

Spring is early here, too. Hang onto your hats, Pittsburgh! It’s time to get outdoors.

Seed Swap! March 2

Common milkweed seeds tumbling out of the pod, Oct 2020 (photo by Kate St. John)

22 February 2024

March is right around the corner and gardening season is almost here. Are you itching to get started? Do you want to try new seeds in your garden? Do you have seeds to share with others? Then you won’t want to miss the 12th Annual Seed Swap at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh on Saturday 2 March, 10am – 2pm.

What: 12th Annual Seed Swap: A Celebration of Seeds
Where: Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Main, at 4400 Forbes Ave in Oakland.
When: Saturday, March 2 | 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
Event Partners: Phipps Conservatory, Grow Pittsburgh and Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh

Virgin’s bower a.k.a. Old man’s beard. Gone to seed (photo by Kate St. John)

Now in its 12th year, the Seed Swap is an annual collaboration between Phipps Conservatory, Grow Pittsburgh and Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. Phipps Conservatory’s website describes the event:

Bring your untreated, non-GMO seeds to share or just pick up seeds donated by local gardeners, farmers and seed companies! Any guest bringing seeds will be eligible to enter a raffle of fun gifts from Phipps and Grow Pittsburgh.

Event Features:

  • Free seeds
    • A new batch of seeds will be released every hour, on the hour!
  • “Ask a master gardener” table
  • Workshops on seed starting, seed saving, and organic gardening 
  • Creative activities for children and teens
  • Historic items on display and conversation with Rare Books Specialist
  • Raffle eligibility for attendees who bring seeds to swap

Show up any time but keep in mind that new seeds will be released every hour on the hour!

The Seed Swap is free. Registration is encouraged but not required. Click here to Register.

photo embedded from Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s Seed Swap registration page

p.s. Here’s another helpful tip from Phipps’ website: “Interested in purchasing seed? We’ve compiled a list of seed vendors for your reference. Check out Phipps’ Smart Seed Shopping web resource for more information!

(photos of seeds by Kate St. John, 2018 photo of Seed Swap by Nick Shapiro courtesy Grow Pittsburgh)

Pollution Prevents Night Pollination

White-lined sphinx moth (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

15 February 2024

Plant pollination has been declining for many reasons including the absence of insects due to pesticides and habitat loss. Now a new reason has surfaced that has nothing to do with the number of flowers and bugs. Research has found that air pollution prevents nighttime pollination by turning off the scent of flowers.

The white-lined sphinx moth (Hyles lineata) is an important nighttime pollinator of purslane, primrose and rose. The research team led by J.K.Chan in eastern Washington, teased out the chemical emitted from pale evening primrose (Oenothera pallida) that attracts the hawkmoths.

Pale evening primrose, Oenothera pallida (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

The moths were particularly tuned to two different flavors of monoterpenes, a class of chemicals found in plant oils [that] evaporate quickly in the air. Moths, whose antennae are roughly as sensitive as a dog’s nose, can pick up the scent several kilometers away from a flower.

But there is an Achilles heel. When the researchers exposed the monoterpenes to NO3, it reacted with the oils, causing them to degrade by between 67% and 84%.

Anthropocene Magazine: Nighttime pollination is plummeting. Some clever sleuthing pinpointed a surprising culprit.

Air pollution doesn’t just change the scent of flowers. It erases the scent. The moths can’t find them.

Anthropocene Magazine continues, “While NO3 [a component of NOx] is less of a problem during the day because it breaks down in sunlight, it accumulates at night, when many pollinators, including the hawkmoths, are active.”

NOx causes trouble for humans, too, because it combines easily with VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) to create ground-level ozone (the bad ozone) and fine particulate which is inhaled so deeply into our lungs (PM2.5).

How pollution forms ground-level ozone (diagram from Wikimedia Commons)

If we reduce NOx pollution we help ourselves and plants at the same time.

(photos and diagram from Wikimedia Commons; click on the captions to see the originals)

Seen This Week + Pittsburgh’s Deer Won This Round

Afternoon light in Schenley Park, 3 Jan 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

6 January 2024

Pittsburgh had a rare moment of sunshine on 3 January. I was happy to be outdoors during the Golden Hour in Schenley Park.

This El Niño winter has been so warm that bulbs sprouted in my neighborhood in December. Here are four of the many I found on New Years Eve. That exposed bulb would never have survived in a normal winter like those we used to have just a decade ago.

Flower shoots emerge on New Year’s Eve, 31 Dec 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)
Pittsburgh’s deer won this round.

At Carnegie Museum in Oakland this week I discovered that deer damage near the rear parking lot was so severe that gardeners removed all the Japanese yews. It took two years and an ever-burgeoning deer population to reach this stage.

All the yews have been removed at Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh, 3 Jan 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

Last August there were fewer yews than in 2022 because the damaged ones had been removed. Unfortunately the deer were severely browsing the now exposed healthy yews.

Damaged yews at Carnegie Museum in August 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)

Here’s what they looked like in August 2022. Those in front had been eaten bare and died. The next tier was severely browsed and those in back were still normal because the dead and dying yews protected them.

Deer damage on yews at Carnegie Museum, 16 August 2022 (photo by Kate St. John)

The bank of yews could not survive with so many deer.

Temperature Makes a Difference

Yellow-rumped warbler in myrtle at the coast (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

30 December 2023

Over the past week my husband and I traveled to Virginia to visit family, the same trip we made a year ago just as a massive cold front swept across the eastern US. Last year temperatures dipped to 13 degrees F in Virginia. This year the weather was mild in the upper 40s to low 60s. The temperature made a difference in how many birds I saw on the trip. Believe it or not there were fewer birds in mild weather!

For instance, on both trips I visited Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge. In 2022 it was well below freezing yet I saw 29 species including thousands of waterfowl: Canada geese, 250-300 tundra swans, gadwall, wigeons, black ducks, ring-necked ducks, scaup, ruddy ducks, and coots (see checklist here).

This year I saw only 18 species and the water birds were reduced to literally a handful each of Canada geese (heard), tundra swans (heard), gadwall and pied-billed grebes (checklist here). Meanwhile the most abundant species was 40-50+ yellow-rumped warblers feasting on myrtle berries.

Abundant myrtle berries attracted yellow-rumped warblers at Back Bay NWR (photo by Kate St. John)

This year’s El Niño is has certainly affected the birds. On the East Coast it is warm enough that many don’t have to come south to find food.

Seasonal temperature and precipitation outlooks for the U.S., Dec 2023-Feb 2024 (maps from NOAA)

Will temperature make a difference during today’s Pittsburgh Christmas Bird Count? I suspect precipitation will have a larger affect. There’s a 90% chance of snow showers and then rain. 🙁

Jack O’Lanterns Glow Green in the Dark

Jack O’Lantern mushroom at night, Randolph County, WV (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

30 October 2023

If you’ve only seen Jack O’Lantern mushrooms (Omphalotus olearius) during the day you may have thought they were named for their orange pumpkin-like color.

Jack O’Lantern mushrooms, Schenley Park, 30 Sept 2018 (photo by Kate St. John)

Instead they are aptly named because they glow green in the dark, as shown in the top photo.

Perhaps, like Armillaria mushrooms, Omphalotus olearius is bioluminescent because of the chemical reaction they use to consume decaying wood. Armillaria‘s chemical reaction glow is described in this vintage article on foxfire.

Jack O’Lantern is one of only about 112 species of fungi that are bioluminescent. Find out more at 10 Bioluminescent Mushrooms That Glow in the Dark.

p.s. Never eat Jack O’Lantern (Omphalotus olearius). It is poisonous!

(photos from Wikimedia Commons & Kate St. John; click on the Wiki caption to see the original)

Seen in Late September

Honeybee on asters, Schenley Park, 28 Sept 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)

7 October 2023

The best photos from this week have been published already (Yesterday at Hays Woods Bird Banding) so I’m reaching back to late September for a few of things I’ve seen.

Bees of all kinds are attracted to deep purple asters beside the Westinghouse Memorial pond in Schenley Park. The honeybee, above, is hard to see near the flower’s orange center.

At Duck Hollow, yellow jewelweed still has flowers as well as fat seed pods. Try to pull one of the pods from the stem and see what happens.

Yellow jewelweed flower and seeds, Duck Hollow, 26 Sept 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)

On 28 September I explored the slag heap flats near Swisshelm Park where (I think) solar arrays will be installed. Because the slag is porous the flats are a dry grass/scrub land where this shrub would have done well except that it’s been over-browsed by too many deer. It looks like bonsai.

Deer damage at the future site of solar flats, NMR Valley, 28 Sept 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)

Deer overpopulation is also evident by the browse line at the edge of the flats.

Browse line at the edge of the future solar flats,NMR Valley, 28 Sept 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)

On 26 September at Duck Hollow I encountered an optical illusion where Nine Mile Run empties into the Monongahela River. It looks as if this downed, waterlogged tree is damming the creek and that the water is lower on the downriver side of it. This illusion seems to be caused by the smooth water surface on one side of the log.

Optical illusion: the log is damming Nine Mile Run, 26 Sept 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)

We found a tiny red centipede crossing the trail at Frick Park on 30 September …

Tiny red centipede, Frick Park, 30 Sept 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)

… and a puffball mushroom outside the Dog Park.

Puffball mushroom, Frick Park, 30 Sept 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)

On 27 September hundreds, if not thousands, of crows gathered at dusk near Neville Street in Shadyside before flying to the roost. I thought this would happen again the next day but they changed their plan and have not come this close again.

Hundreds of crows take off from a roof on Neville Street, 27 Sept 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)

Sometimes sunrise is the most beautiful part of the day.

Sunrise at Neville Street, 28 Sept 2023 (photo by Kate St. John)

These photos don’t give the impression that it’s been abnormally dry, but precipitation in Pittsburgh is down 6″ for the year. Almost 2″ of that deficit occurred in September. The Fall Color Prediction says our leaf color-change is later than usual.

(photos by Kate St. John)

Invasive Look-Alike of Devil’s Walking Stick

Tennessee warbler on Aralia sp., 6 Sept 2023 (photo by Dave Brooke)

2 October 2023

In September birders lurk near devil’s walking stick in Frick Park because the plants attract birds on migration. Crawling with tiny insects and full of fruit, devil’s walking stick is often swarmed with visiting warblers, cedar waxwings and robins. But is it really devil’s walking stick (Aralia spinosa)? Or is it the invasive look-alike Japanese angelica (Aralia elata)? Or even worse, is it a hybrid?

I didn’t know about this possibility until Dave Brooke posted photos of two warblers on devil’s walking stick. The first was a Tennessee warbler, at top, followed by a Cape May warbler, below, that landed on the same perch in the same pose just 25 seconds later.

Cape May warbler on Aralia sp., 6 Sept 2023 (photo by Dave Brooke)

Anne Swaim responded to Dave’s post saying “Probably Aralia elata, the Japanese Angelica. Great bird attractant (but really invasive.) Same genus as the native Devil’s walking stick.”

Native to eastern Russia, China, Korea and Japan, Japanese angelica (Aralia elata) was brought to the U.S. as an ornamental plant. It’s well known in eastern Pennsylvania and New York state because those areas are outside Aralia spinosa‘s native range. Pittsburgh is on the border though, so I always assumed I was looking at the native plant.

Aralia spinosa‘s native range (map from Wikimedia Commons)

It’s so hard to tell them apart that New York Botanical Garden posted this guide to invasive look-alikes. Here’s a screenshot from the Aralia sp pages:

screenshot from Mistaken Identity? Invasive Plants and Their Native Look-Alikes, A Guide for the Mid-Atlantic (posted by NY Botanical Garden)

Their Quick ID is helpful for non-botanists like me.

Quick ID of Aralia elata (invasive alien):

  1. Leaf veins: Main lateral veins running all the way to the tips of teeth at the leaf margin.
  2. Inflorescence: Inflorescence shorter, typically 30–60 cm long, and WITHOUT a distinct central axis (often wider than long, with base usually surrounded by and even overtopped by foliage).

Quick ID of Aralia spinosa (native):

  1. Leaf veins: Main lateral veins branching and diminishing in size before reaching the leaf margin (smaller branching veins may run to the tips of teeth)
  2. Inflorescence: Inflorescence longer, often 1–1.2 m long, WITH a distinct central axis (typically longer than wide, base usually elevated above foliage).
Mistaken Identity? Invasive Plants and Their Native Look-Alikes, A Guide for the Mid-Atlantic (posted by NY Botanical Garden)

I tried to identify the plants at Frick by looking at the leaves but it’s very hard to do. The easiest way is by looking at the inflorescence — the tower of flowers.

Japanese angelica’s (Aralia elata) inflorescence basically lies flat. It does not have a central stem and the leaves may cover some of the flowers. Here’s Japanese angelica at Frick.

Inflorescence below the leaves = Japanese elata in Frick Park (photo by Kate St. John)

Devil’s walking stick’s (Aralia spinosa) inflorescence stands tall above the leaves on a central stalk.

Inflorescence above the leaves on a central stalk = Devil’s walking stick (photo by Tom Potterfield via Flickr Creative Commons license)

Now I’ve started looking at all the Aralias and asking: Which one are you?

You might know of a stand of a devil’s walking stick you’d like to examine too. To figure out its identity download the Mistaken Identity guide at nybg.org ==> https://www.nybg.org/files/scientists/rnaczi/Mistaken_Identity_Final.pdf

Also see Tom Potterfield’s Flickr album with photos of both species.

Meanwhile, for the sake of the warblers I am deciding not to get excited that these plants are alien. The birds love them so much and I love the birds so …

p.s. Read more about Japanese angelica’s invasive qualities at the Brandywine Conservancy: Invasive Species Spotlight: Japanese Angelica Tree (Aralia elata). Here’s where it occurs in the U.S. Yes, in Allegheny County. Wonder who planted it.

Japanese angelica in the U.S. (map from Invasive Plant Atlas, EDD)

(photos by Dave Brooke, nybg.org, Kate St. John and Tom Potterfield. Click the links in the captions to see the originals)