Meadowfire

These are four Plains Coreopsis (Coreopsis tinctoria)—tall, yellow, long-stemmed wildflowers with eight distinct petals. Each petal ends in three rounded lobes: a larger central hump flanked by two smaller ones, giving them the playful shape of a comic book ghost with raised hands. Near the flower’s center, the lower portion of each petal is brushed in deep blood red, as if dabbed hastily with a coarse paintbrush. At the very heart of the flower, the clustered stamens emerge from a soft, brownish-orange puff that looks almost like a miniature seed head in bloom.

#flowers