Beaming Reed
Beaming Reed (#5AAE49) is a true green with an earthy character. It leans grounded and natural, the kind of color that plays well with wood, clay, linen, and warm neutrals. Its HSL profile (110°, 41%, 48%) places it in the balanced band at a mid lightness. It works across type, buttons, and borders, saturated enough to feel deliberate but balanced enough to not fight the rest of the palette. For a confident two-color system, pair it with its complementary violet. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.
Etymology
The progressive participle of beam, to emit a directional light — used as a color word since the nineteenth century for hues that read as if focused and projecting. Beaming yellow, beaming pink: the implication is luminance combined with directionality. Sits at the bright-bucket center alongside radiant and glowing.
Phragmites australis, the wetland grass whose tall stalks and feathery seed plumes line freshwater margins worldwide. Reed color refers to a freshwater marsh dominated by phragmites in late summer: a soft, slightly cool yellow-green with the matte finish of upright wet-grass blade.
Closest matches
The nearest named color in three reference sources, ranked by perceptual distance (ΔE76 in CIELAB). ΔE < 1 is imperceptible to most viewers; ΔE > 10 is clearly different. When two sources point to the same hex they’re merged into one tile; click any to open that color’s page.
Variations
Click any swatch to exploreHarmonies
Accessibility
How this color appears to viewers with the four major color-vision-deficiency types. Computed via the Machado (2009) physiologically-based model. If a tile matches the original, the color reads the same to that viewer.
The color used as foreground text against pure white and pure black, with the contrast ratio and WCAG 2.1 grade. Aim for AA (4.5:1) for body text and AA Large (3:1) for 18 pt+ headlines; AAA (7:1) is the gold standard for long-form reading surfaces.