Hot Bliss Goldenrod

Old English hāt, of high temperature — applied metaphorically to color since the eighteenth century for warm hues at high saturation. Hot pink, hot red: the implication is luminous intensity combined with thermal warmth. Sits in the bright-and-warm corner of the grid, alongside burning and vivid.

Old English blīths, joy-or-delight. As a color modifier, bliss implies a deep-joy-and-rapture-and-contentment quality, the visual register of Beatific-Vision-and-Elysian-Field-bliss hand-deep-joy-and-rapture-and-contentment Beatific-Vision-and-Elysian-Field-and-paradise-meadow blissed-and-deep-joy-and-rapture surfaces under Beatific-Vision-and-Elysian-Field-and-paradise-meadow heavenly-and-rapturous-and-blessed paradise-light. Sits at the modifier-and-mood end of the grid, parallel to joy and mirth 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.