We are onto week 4 (April 13th, 2026) at West Leechburg Native Plant Preserve with some hot and humid weather. There continues to be an increase in new plants, and I continue to focus on those that will be blooming or are of notable interest. The bloodroot, yellow trout lily, blue cohosh, and Dutchman's breeches are all done blooming. I expected longer from the dutchman's breeches, but oh well. Maybe the heat got them like the red trillium? This was the best week for the white trillium and two-leaved toothwort. I am super excited to announce that I found Jack-in-the-pulpit for the first time (for me) here!!! Some other new plants include bluets, foamflower, and poison ivy (I won't include that, it's just an important thing for me). I'm thinking next week will be good for the Solomon's seal but I think the other budding plants like mayapple and foamflower will need another week. I'm not sure.
Invasive Roundup
Periwinkle/Creeping myrtle (Vinca minor)
Here's my obligatory periwinkle photo. It's really thriving now. I think I said that last week. It must always really thrive. You can really get the gist of how invasive this can be by the picture. Nothing is going to compete with that.
Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata)
This week the garlic mustard is really looking good. Garlic mustard blooms at the same time as the toothworts. You can see the garlic mustard has a very similar white 4 petal flower. I've included a photo that has both garlic mustard and two-leaved toothwort blooming so you can see that if you're not too focused on them (like the picture), you might easily mistake them. The leaves are pretty distinctive though. Pictures of just the toothworts are in the toothwort section further on in this post.
The West Virginia white butterfly (state species of concern) uses two-leaved toothwort as a host plant and often mistakes it for garlic mustard, which is toxic to the caterpillars (1). This is a large contributor to the butterfly's decline. Both garlic mustard and two-leaved toothwort are present here, so this could be an issue if the West Virginia white also is present at this location.
Eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis)
This week seems like it will be the last of the nice blooms for the redbuds at West Leechburg. The leaves are budding out on the them as well. Oh, you can also eat the blooms! I never have, but they can give some nice color to salads. I've always meant to try it.
Dutchman's breeches (Dicenta cucullaria)
There are actually a few Dutchman's breeches blooms hanging on, but they look like papery pants ghosts. They are mostly yellowing leaves and seed pods.
Yellow trout lily (Erythronium americanum)
I included the only remaining yellow trout lily bloom I found at West Leechburg. How sad! Anything left was mostly fruit and yellowing leaves.
Trilliums
I could post a million trillium pictures. This is now the predominant flower in bloom at West Leechburg. Last week was best for purple/red (Trillium erectum), even though they seem to be really floppy and having a rough time. They're still out but looking even rougher than before. I don't think they'll last here much longer than this week. This week is best for white/large (Trillium grandiflorum). Some are already starting to turn pink as they get old and wilt. I love the fact that they do that.
Toothworts (Cardamine)
The cutleaf toothwort (Cardamine concatenata) were mostly done flowering. I only found a few that were still in bloom (first picture). This is the week of the two-leaved toothwort (Cardamine diphylla). There are a lot of them along the trail in bloom (second picture). You can see how it could be confused with garlic mustard since it's the same size and blooming at the same time. The leaves of all of these plants are pretty distinct, and once you recognize the leaf, you can easily ID the plant correctly. I made sure to include pictures of all species where you can easily see the distinguishing characteristics of the leaves.
Solomon's seal (Polygonatum)
The Solomon's seal is still budding but no blooms yet. It does look like the one bud on the plant in the picture is starting to bloom. Next week should be perfect for them.
This week has solidified the fact that I was wrong to jump to the conclusion of there being any bellworts here, at least that I can see. The place is swimming in Solomon's seal with not a drop of bellwort to be found. I DID see a bellwort this week hiking at a different place, so I know I'm not going crazy thinking I usually see them all the time.
Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum)
The mayapples are multiplying, and their umbrellas are growing larger. Like Yellow trout lilies, only those that have 2 leaves will produce the flower (2). You can clearly see the bud at the center of the two leaves in the second photo. Oddly, when I picture a mayapple in my head, I envision the classic single leaf umbrella, but that wouldn't be capable of flowering.
Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum)
This was so exciting for me! I have never seen it at the West Leechburg property, although I know it is here. The leaves are almost identical to trilliums, so you can never really be sure unless something is blooming if you aren't closely examining leaves. This is such a cool and unique plant! Like skunk cabbage, a hooded spathe covers either male or female flowers (2). There are a few different subspecies and can vary in color with purple, green, and white ribs and coloration. You can see the color variation in the pictures I included. Each one is a different one I found on the property but probably the same subspecies.
I was also pretty surprised because it is earlier than I've seen Jack-in-the-pulpit in the past, but I saw it at Tubmill and an area closer to Pittsburgh this week. As I've said, I've never seen it here and have really only seen it in more northern areas, so perhaps it is the normal time here. It is blooming all over the property, though most are concentrated near the first half of the trail. I actually think I saw more Jack-in-the-pulpits here than I've seen total ever! I think they are very easily overlooked if you aren't closely scanning the ground. I've been spending every week closely scanning the ground now, so I'm seeing more of them.
Bluets/Quaker ladies (Houstonia caerulea)
This was another new arrival this week. These are cute little flowers. The only place I saw them was on the little hill overlooking the waterfall. I usually only ever see these in lawns or grassy/weedy patches, so it was a little unexpected.
Foamflower (Tiarella stolonifera)
I saw a lot of these just starting to popup. They look like weird grape lollipop clusters to me before they bloom. I'm excited for the next few weeks because I really like these when they are blooming.
Violets (Viola)
Violets have all of a sudden exploded all over the place. This is odd because they were really vibrant in previous weeks at Tubmill but have started to die off this week there. Regardless of that fact, week 4 is violet week at West Leechburg. There are so many types of violets, both native and nonnative, that I simply see these as some purple and yellow colored violets. I don't have any strong opinions about them, most likely because I don't know enough to appreciate them, and I see them everywhere.
Kidneyleaf buttercup (Ranunculus abortivus)
I found these at Tubmill but was unfamiliar with them at first. It's a really common native buttercup. I've been seeing them a lot now that I looked them up. It's amazing what you notice when you start looking that you might have overlooked in the past.
Other Interesting Finds:
Dace (Rhinichthys)
Believe it or not, there are fish in this stream. With the low water levels I could see several dace swimming around. You can see the red belly coloration on the breeding males if you look really closely.
Mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos)
Two mallard ducks, a male and female, were swimming around the pool above the waterfall before I disturbed them with my presence.
Waterfall
The water was really low this week as you can see by my obligatory waterfall pictures.
Ferns
The place is swimming in fiddleheads. Again, they are just so darn cute. Here's my lovely photographic masterpiece I call "fiddleheads and log." Sorry, I had to take advantage of my audience to show off my photography. I probably won't have any more ferns for West Leechburg because I really only like them when they are fiddleheads.
If you liked this post, here's the background for the wildflower project and all posts for the West Leechburg location:
(Links active once published)Week 4 - April 13, 20226 (current page)Week 5 - April 20, 2026Week 6 - April 27, 2026Week 7 - May 4, 2026Week 8 - May 11, 2026Week 9 - May 18, 2026
(Links active once published)
References
- Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. (n.d.). Garlic Mustard and the West Virginia White Butterfly. Retrieved April 18, 2026, from https://waterlandlife.org/wildlife-pnhp/invasive-and-unwelcomed-species/garlic-mustard/
- Gracie, C. (2012). Spring Wildflowers of the Northeast: A Natural History. Princeton University Press.
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