Early in the season the botanical tides wash ashore as Baby Blue-eyes and Cream Cups and Popcorn flowers. But the first big wave that sends us scurrying for higher ground usually drenches us in sunshiny Goldfields and somewhat darker Fiddlenecks. What begins as a trickle in February swells to a golden flood in March when fields and roadsides are blanketed with these flowers.
Goldfields (Lasthenia californica) are members of the Aster Family (Asteraceae). They bloom in the spring, from southwestern Oregon to central Arizona and Baja California, on slopes at low elevations and in open fields where the soil is poor, the moisture ample, and little grass to compete.
It is an annual, and individual plants are rather small, growing only to 10" at most. The bright golden yellow flower heads get no larger than about an inch across, with up to 10 oblong ray flowers surrounding a prominent central disk. The plant has reddish stems and very narrow opposite leaves.
Growing singularly or sparingly, Goldfields are easy to overlook, but when the conditions are right and they can do their thing, well, all I can say is a pair of sunglasses aren't a bad idea.
At the same time, and sometimes in the same blinding patch of flowery golden sunshine, Fiddlenecks (Amsinckia menziesii) blossom. These members of the Borage (or Forget-me-not) Family (Boraginaceae) are so named for their coiled inflorescences, which resemble what their name suggests they resemble. (That makes sense, huh?) Each inflorescence is covered with small yellow-orange flowers. The petals of the flowers are joined, forming a funnel with a narrow tube. Where goldfields form a mat, Fiddlenecks grow to 3 feet tall, waving in the wind like prairie grass, only much prettier.
They prefer dry, open areas, and can be found from Washington and Idaho south to Baja California, and east into Arizona.
Both species finish blooming in May, giving way to still other tidal waves of color. And both species are a great way to get wet with the first waves of another wildflower season.
"The First Wave" (c) 2004 Gregg M. Pasterick - All Rights Reserved.
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