Lurid Lough Goldenrod

Latin lūridus, pale-yellow / sickly — sharing root with lūror (yellowish-pallor). As a color modifier, lurid implies a saturated-and-shocking-and-sickly-bright quality, the bright color of Penny-Dreadful-and-Pulp-Fiction sensational-cover-art bright-and-pulpy printing. Sits at the bright-and-shocking end of the grid, parallel to garish and gaudy in usage.

Irish-and-Scottish loch via Old Irish loch, lake / sea-inlet. As a color modifier, lough implies a still-mountain-water quality, the visual register of Connemara-and-Lough-Erne Irish-Highland glacial-cirque-and-river-mouth still-and-mirror-smooth fresh-water surfaces under Western-Irish overcast light. Sits at the modifier-and-place end of the grid, parallel to mere and pond 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.