Excitement

I love to come home from one of my hikes, filled with the thrill of finding a flower that I’ve never seen before.   What a cool feeling!  And then to actually find it in one of my wildflower guides!  Nothing better!

Brilliant, Chrome Yellow

Most of us know of the Goldenrod, with its brilliant, chrome yellow, tiny flowers which bloom along roadsides nearly everywhere.  In mid-September I began seeing a flower, very similar to Goldenrod, but with snow white ray flowers, way up on my hike.  I took my usual photographs to record what I had seen and brought the pictures to my studio to figure things out.  I paged through my many wildflower guides and finally found what I had come upon.

A Species Of Goldenrod!

What I stumbled upon is a species of Goldenrod, with the common name, Silverrod, Solidago bicolor.  It strikes me as amusing that there would be so many species of Goldenrod that are actually golden, and a species that is silvery with the common name of Silverrod.  How very logical!  The ray flowers of the Silverrod are snow white and the rich yellow coloring that sometimes shows, is the stamens and pollen which can be bright yellow.

A Native

The Silverrod is native to the eastern portion of North America.  I’ve seen it occasionally but not in great numbers, mainly in the higher elevations.