Yellow Flower on Side of Road Closeup

Yellow Flower on Side of Road

Last week while driving through Newtown, CT I stumbled on this yellow flower.  From a distance it looks like a dandelion.  It’s definitely not.

Yellow Flower on Side of Road

I took this picture March 25 when Daffodils are just starting to bloom.  We’re a long way off from leaves on trees.

Yellow Flower on Side of Road in Leaf Litter

I checked the US Wildflowers Database and had no luck finding it.

I’d like to thank Lydia, from the comments below, who told me the plant is Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara).


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7 responses to “Yellow Flower on Side of Road”

  1. apileofsticks Avatar

    I don’t know off-hand. Something like it grows around here (in the Northwest) but I’ve never tried to key it out. It’s definitely in the Asteraceae family…which has an insane number of plants. You’d need to know if it has basal leaves or not…how tall plant is, how big diameter flower is….because there are so many “yellow flower” plants in this family.

    1. John Holden Avatar

      The only plant I could randomly pull from my mind was English Daisy (Bellis perennis). That’s all I had that was even close to it but there’s no way it’s an English Daisy. I’m going to keep an eye on that part of the road and see what the foliage looks like later in the season.

      1. apileofsticks Avatar

        yeah, definitely not English Daisy. As a little girl, I learned how to make daisy chains…loved it…could spend a whole day sitting in the shade making them. Many years later I was in a Plant Nursery and saw a poster listing highly invasive plants/hated lawn weeds…English Daisy, my beloved daisy chain flower, was on the top of the list! It broke my heart. We’re pretty fickle about the ones we love and the ones we love to hate. Take good care

        1. John Holden Avatar

          I got a good chuckle out of that story. Invasive plants, now there’s a hot topic.

  2. Lydia Avatar
    Lydia

    Hello John, I recognize the flower. It is a Tussilago farfara. It is a common wild perennial here in Belgium. The flowers come first, early spring, and after the bloom, the big heartshape leaves appear. If you´d like a link to a Dutch website, I can send it to you. Best regards, Lydia

    1. John Holden Avatar

      Lydia,

      Thank you a ton for the information. I looked up Tussilago farfara and that’s definitely it! I looked up where it grows and the description said upslope from wetlands. There’s a swamp just down the hill from where I took the picture. Plants are so gosh darn predictable, even when they’re growing on the wrong continent. I’m going to put a link in the blog post and give you credit for the answer. Thanks again!

      1. Lydia Avatar
        Lydia

        My pleasure! Yes, plants grow wherever the conditions are ideal for them.