Yellow flowers

Often someone, especially in the spring when the flowers start blooming, will stop me and ask, “What are those yellow wildflowers blooming in the fields and along the roadsides?” This is usually an impossible question to answer on the spot. There are lots and lots of yellow flowers. It may be the most common color of flower in the flower world. Some of you probably remember Maggie Baines, one of the most knowledgeable wildflower experts around. When Maggie was asked this question, she would quickly say, “Oh! That’s one of those dam yellow composites!” This answer covered most of the yellow flowers and it kept her…and me…from having to search for what the flower really is.

This week I have really been trying to identify the yellow flowers in the field between the library and The Chapel in the Hills, a truly beautiful sight. I believe the bulk of the flowers are members of the Hymenoxys family which are included in the Compositae—Tribe Helenieae group. Specifically, Tetraneuris scaposa (commonly called Four Nerve Daisy or Slender-Stem Bitterweed) , or Tetraneuris linearfolia (commonly called Slender-Leaf Hymenoxys or Four Nerve Daisy). Dssodia pentachaeta or Parralena is also very similar. If anyone out there wants to jump in and help me out with the identification of these flowers, please do so.

By the way, I have a number of wildflower identification books, but my favorite is Wildflowers of the Texas Hill Country by Marshall Enquist. Since it focuses on Hill Country flowers only, the choices are narrowed down and the pictures are clear. One drawback, however, like other books also, is that the entire plant is rarely pictured so it is sometimes difficult if not impossible to see the bottom half of the plant which includes the emerging leaf and stem structure.

Perhaps the best advice is to simply enjoy the beauty of the season with its tremendous variety of wildflowers and remember our dear Maggie Baine’s comprehensive identification.

Written by Martha Knies