Field of Yellow
by Jon Burch Photography
Title
Field of Yellow
Artist
Jon Burch Photography
Medium
Photograph - Digital Photography
Description
These yellow flowers were found along U.S. Highway 85 just north of Nunn, Colorado. I found out by searching the interweb that they are called "Plains Greenthread" or "Stiff Greenthread". Makes sense, once you have seen the vegetation under the flower head...
Thelesperma filifolium, commonly known as Stiff Greenthread, or Plains Greenthread, is a species of flowering plant in the aster family, Asteraceae. It is often found growing in shallow soils. It prefers disturbed sites in dry, sandy or gravelly soil with a neutral to basic pH. Stiff Greenthread adapts to various soil conditions, including loam, clay, caliche, and roadsides. The plant blooms between March and June and often into the fall.
Having a taproot, it is extremely resistant to drought, but thrives in rain. The designation Greenthread is most appropriate, as it has thin, thread-like leaves. It can be single-stemmed or multi-stemmed, and reaches a height of 12 to 26 inches. The leaves are scattered along the whole stem. The daisy-like, 2 inch, eight-ray flowers are golden-yellow and the numerous disk flowers are reddish to dark brown. The urn-shaped bloom buds droop downward prior to opening. The inner whorl of phyllaries surrounding the lower portion of the bloom is translucent, which allows the colors of the developing flowers to be seen. When open, there are two types of phyllary at the base of the bloom: one is short and green, the other red and long.
The crushed leaves offer a pleasant aroma and can be made into tea, which is sometimes used medicinally by several Native American tribes. This is especially widespread among southwest tribes, where it is named Navajo Tea, Hopi Tea, or Indian tea.
Some digital effects were applied to the original image after the photograph was made. No electrons were harmed during the transition.
Image copyright 2023 Jon Burch Photography
Uploaded
December 6th, 2023
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