Acid Dale Goldenrod

Latin acidus, sour — sharing root with English acrid and acerbic. As a color modifier, acid implies a saturated-and-citric-and-zingy quality, the bright color of lemon-and-lime citrus-fruit-flesh and acid-yellow fluorescent-pigment surfaces. Sits at the bright-and-cool end of the grid, parallel to acidic and electric in usage.

Old English dæl, valley. As a color modifier, dale implies a Yorkshire-pastoral-valley quality, the visual register of Yorkshire-and-Derbyshire-Dales limestone-walled river-valley pasture-and-stone-wall pastoral surfaces in slow-river-cut Northern-English Dale-country light. Sits at the modifier-and-place end of the grid, parallel to vale and glen 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.