Torrid Awe Goldenrod

Latin torridus, parched / scorching — sharing root with torrēre (to dry by heat). As a color modifier, torrid implies a saturated-and-tropical-hot quality, the bright color of equatorial-Saharan-and-Sonoran-desert mid-summer high-temperature surface-emission. Sits at the bright-and-warm end of the grid, parallel to scorching and fiery in usage.

Old Norse agi, fright-and-reverence. As a color modifier, awe implies a reverent-and-overwhelmed-and-hushed quality, the visual register of Burkean-sublime-and-Caspar-David-Friedrich-awe hand-reverent-and-overwhelmed-and-hushed Burkean-sublime-and-Caspar-David-Friedrich-and-Romantic-vista awed-and-reverent-and-overwhelmed-and-hushed surfaces under Burkean-sublime-and-Caspar-David-Friedrich-and-Romantic-vista alpine-and-storm-cloud-and-mountain-pass cathedral-of-nature-light. Sits at the modifier-and-mood end of the grid, parallel to bliss and grace 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.