
Two views of the Squaw Run, swollen from yesterday’s rain, as it flows past Salamander Park in Fox Chapel.

A well-grown specimen of Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) is an extravagantly beautiful sight in the fall, covering stout tree trunks with a blanket of fiery red. If you love Poison Ivy, rejoice! The more we suburbanize the landscape, the more opportunity we create for this splendid vine, which naturally grows only at the edge of the woods.
Fall is just beginning to work its magic in the suburban forests. This little stream runs through the Kane Woods Nature Area in Scott Township; a little farther on it runs into Scrubgrass Run, which runs into Chartiers Creek, which runs into the Ohio River, which runs into the Mississippi, which runs into the Gulf of Mexico.
In early September, countless thousands of Wingstem flowers (Actinomeris alternifolia) line the Salamander Trail in Fox Chapel. Wingstem can grow up to ten feet high when it’s happy. This picture is how old Pa Pitt always wants to remember late summer.