meadow rue any of various herbs of the genus Thalictrum; sometimes rhizomatous or tuberous perennials found in damp shady places and meadows or stream banks; have lacy foliage and clouds of small purple or yellow flowers
sand verbena any of various plants of the genus Abronia of western North America and Mexico having flowers resembling verbena
allionia incarnata,
trailing four o'clock,
trailing windmills trailing plant having crowded clusters of 3 brilliant deep pink flowers resembling a single flower blooming near the ground; found in dry gravelly or sandy soil; southwestern United States and Mexico
lewisia cotyledon,
siskiyou lewisia evergreen perennial having a dense basal rosette of long spatula-shaped leaves and panicles of pink or white-and-red-striped or pink-purple flowers; found on cliffs and in rock crevices in mountains of southwestern Oregon and northern California
bitterroot,
lewisia rediviva showy succulent ground-hugging plant of Rocky Mountains regions having deep to pale pink flowers and fleshy farinaceous roots; the Montana state flower
talinum aurantiacum,
flame-flower,
flame flower,
flameflower plant with fleshy roots and erect stems with narrow succulent leaves and one reddish-orange flower in each upper leaf axil; southwestern United States; Indians once cooked the fleshy roots
arnica cordifolia,
heartleaf arnica wildflower with heart-shaped leaves and broad yellow flower heads; of alpine areas west of the Rockies from Alaska to southern California
arnica montana herb of pasture and open woodland throughout most of Europe and western Asia having orange-yellow daisylike flower heads that when dried are used as a stimulant and to treat bruises and swellings
false chamomile any of various autumn-flowering perennials having white or pink to purple flowers that resemble asters; wild in moist soils from New Jersey to Florida and Texas
golden aster any of several shrubby herbs or subshrubs of the genus Chrysopsis having bright golden-yellow flower heads that resemble asters; throughout much of United States and into Canada
hawk's-beard,
hawk's-beards any of various plants of the genus Crepis having loose heads of yellow flowers on top of a long branched leafy stem; northern hemisphere
brittle bush,
brittlebush,
encelia farinosa,
incienso fragrant rounded shrub of southwestern United States and adjacent Mexico having brittle stems and small crowded blue-green leaves and yellow flowers; produces a resin used in incense and varnish and in folk medicine
gaillardia any plant of western America of the genus Gaillardia having hairy leaves and long-stalked flowers in hot vibrant colors from golden yellow and copper to rich burgundy
desert sunflower,
gerea canescens slender hairy plant with few leaves and golden-yellow flower heads; sandy desert areas of southeastern California to southwestern Utah and western Arizona and northwestern Mexico
goldenbush any of various much-branched yellow-flowered shrubs of the genus Chrysothamnus; western North America
heliopsis,
oxeye any North American shrubby perennial herb of the genus Heliopsis having large yellow daisylike flowers
alpine gold,
alpine hulsea,
hulsea algida low tufted plant having hairy stems each topped by a flower head with short narrow yellow rays; northwestern United States
goldfields,
lasthenia chrysostoma small slender woolly annual with very narrow opposite leaves and branches bearing solitary golden-yellow flower heads; southwestern Oregon to Baja California and Arizona; often cultivated
hawkbit any of various common wildflowers of the genus Leontodon; of temperate Eurasia to Mediterranean regions
edelweiss,
leontopodium alpinum alpine perennial plant native to Europe having leaves covered with whitish down and small flower heads held in stars of glistening whitish bracts
machaeranthera bigelovii,
sticky aster wild aster having leafy stems and flower heads with narrow bright reddish-lavender or purple rays; western Colorado to Arizona
machaeranthera tortifoloia,
mojave aster wild aster having greyish leafy stems and flower heads with narrow pale lavender or violet rays; of rocky desert slopes California to Arizona and Utah
blackfoot daisy,
melampodium leucanthum bushy subshrub having flower heads that resemble asters with broad white rays; found in desert areas of Arizona east to Kansas and south to Mexico
coneflower any of various perennials of the eastern United States having thick rough leaves and long-stalked showy flowers with drooping rays and a conelike center
nodding groundsel,
senecio bigelovii plant with erect leafy stems bearing clusters of rayless yellow flower heads on bent individual stalks; moist regions of southwestern United States
arrowleaf groundsel,
senecio triangularis perennial with sharply toothed triangular leaves on leafy stems bearing a cluster of yellow flower heads; moist places in mountains of western North America
goldenrod any of numerous chiefly summer-blooming and fall-blooming North American plants especially of the genus Solidago
haplopappus acaulis,
stemless golden weed,
stenotus acaulis dark green erect herb of northwestern United States and southwestern Canada having stiff leaves in dense tufts and yellow flower heads; sometimes placed in genus Haplopappus
northern dune tansy,
tanacetum douglasii lightly hairy rhizomatous perennial having aromatic feathery leaves and stems bearing open clusters of small buttonlike yellow flowers; sand dunes of Pacific coast of North America
tragopogon dubius,
yellow salsify European perennial naturalized throughout United States having hollow stems with a few long narrow tapered leaves and each bearing a solitary pale yellow flower
mule's ears,
wyethia amplexicaulis balsamic-resinous herb with clumps of lanceolate leaves and stout leafy stems ending in large deep yellow flowers on long stalks; northwestern United States
white-rayed mule's ears,
wyethia helianthoides herb with basal leaves and leafy hairy stems bearing solitary flower heads with white or pale cream-colored rays; northwestern United States
indian pipe,
monotropa uniflora,
waxflower small waxy white or pinkish-white saprophytic woodland plant having scalelike leaves and a nodding flower; turns black with age
false beachdrops,
monotropa hypopithys,
pinesap fleshy tawny or reddish saprophytic herb resembling the Indian pipe and growing in woodland humus of eastern North America; in some classifications placed in a separate genus Hypopitys
sarcodes sanguinea,
snow plant a fleshy bright red saprophytic plant of the mountains of western North America that appears in early spring while snow is on the ground
eustoma grandiflorum,
prairie gentian,
tulip gentian,
bluebell one of the most handsome prairie wildflowers having large erect bell-shaped bluish flowers; of moist places in prairies and fields from eastern Colorado and Nebraska south to New Mexico and Texas
leatherleaf saxifrage,
leptarrhena pyrolifolia plant with basal leathery elliptic leaves and erect leafless flower stalks each bearing a dense roundish cluster of tiny white flowers; moist places of northwestern North America to Oregon and Idaho
lithophragma parviflorum,
prairie star plant with mostly basal leaves and slender open racemes of white or pale pink flowers; prairies and open forest of northwestern United States to British Columbia and Alberta
fringed grass of parnassus,
parnassia fimbriata bog plant with broadly heart-shaped basal leaves and cream-colored or white saucer-shaped flowers with fringed petals; west of Rocky Mountains from Alaska to New Mexico
false alumroot,
fringe cups,
tellima grandiflora plant growing in clumps with mostly basal leaves and cream-colored or pale pink fringed flowers in several long racemes; Alaska to coastal central California and east to Idaho
collinsia parviflora,
maiden blue-eyed mary small widely branching western plant with tiny blue-and-white flowers; British Columbia to Ontario and south to California and Colorado
penstemon centranthifolius,
scarlet bugler plant with bright red tubular flowers in long narrow clusters near tips of erect stems; coastal ranges from central California southward
hot-rock penstemon,
penstemon deustus stems in clumps with cream-colored flowers; found from Washington to Wyoming and southward to California and Utah
mountain pride,
penstemon newberryi mat-forming plant with deep pink flowers on short erect leafy stems; rocky places at high elevations from Oregon to California
cliff penstemon,
penstemon rupicola,
rock penstemon one of the West's most beautiful wildflowers; large brilliant pink or rose flowers in many racemes above thick mats of stems and leaves; ledges and cliffs from Washington to California
cascade penstemon,
penstemon serrulatus whorls of deep blue to dark purple flowers at tips of erect leafy stems; moist places from British Columbia to Oregon
penstemon whippleanus,
whipple's penstemon wine and lavender to purple and black flowers in several clusters on the upper half of leafy stems; Montana south through the Rocky Mountains to Arizona and New Mexico
A wildflower (or wild flower) is a flower that grows wild, meaning it was not intentionally seeded or planted. Yet "wildflower" meadows of a few mixed species are sold in seed packets. The term "wildflower" has been made vague by commercial seedsmen who are interested in selling more flowers or seeds more expensively than when labeled with only its name and/or origin.
