Sharp Satyr Goldenrod

Old English scearp, cutting, pointed — applied metaphorically to color since the seventeenth century for hues that read as definite and edge-defined. Sharp red, sharp green: the implication is saturation combined with high-contrast crispness. Sits in the bright-bucket center alongside crisp and clear, with a slightly more incisive edge.

Greek σάτυρος, half-goat-and-Dionysian-companion. As a color modifier, satyr implies a half-goat-and-Dionysian-revel-and-pastoral quality, the visual register of Hellenic-Satyr-and-Dionysian-revel hand-half-goat-and-Dionysian-revel-and-pastoral Hellenic-Satyr-and-Dionysian-revel-and-Pan-pipes satyr-and-half-goat-and-Dionysian-revel surfaces under Hellenic-Satyr-and-Dionysian-revel-and-Pan-pipes Bacchic-procession-and-vine-leaf-crown Dionysian-revel-light. Sits at the modifier-and-myth end of the grid, parallel to faun and nymph in usage.

Solidago, the late-summer wildflower of North American meadows whose tall sprays of small yellow flowers signal the end of the growing season. The color refers to the flower head at full bloom: a warm, slightly muted yellow-orange with the matte finish of small clustered florets. Cooler than mustard, deeper than dandelion. The state flower of Kentucky and Nebraska, a pollinator magnet, and the original native dye for early American homespun.