Large buttercup flower and bud
Above is the flower of a large buttercup (Ranunculus macranthus) along TX 123 south of Seguin on March 18th. Below is a bud of the same fuzzy species.
Both compositions share a sweep toward the top right, but while the first view is bright and looks upward, the second is darker and looks downward.
© 2019 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers 
All I’m saying is, the name is apt.
melissabluefineart
March 30, 2019 at 8:10 AM
So’s you’re comment.
Steve Schwartzman
March 30, 2019 at 9:18 AM
😀
melissabluefineart
March 31, 2019 at 9:02 AM
Lovely angle and detail in the first buttercup photograph. I should be seeing marsh marigolds (another buttercup) before long.
tomwhelan
March 30, 2019 at 9:10 AM
As is my wont, I got on the ground to make that upward angle possible.
Is your marsh marigold Caltha palustris, which I see grows across the northeastern states?
Steve Schwartzman
March 30, 2019 at 9:22 AM
So that’s what these are! I found a widespread colony of them on my gloomiest morning, along FM 466, but most were almost fully closed. They clearly were beyond the bud stage, so it may be that a few hours later, with the addition of some sunlight, they would have looked more like this one. Still, it’s a pretty flower, even half-closed.
shoreacres
March 30, 2019 at 6:48 PM
I mistook it for a member of the sunflower family but somebody set me straight. This specimen was pristine and just called out to be photographed against the sky. I was happy to oblige. I hope you’ll still find some as good as this one. While they don’t make it to the coast, they do grow in Gonzales County (where you were) and Washington County and Fayette County (in case you head west on US 290 hunting wildflowers over near Brenham).
Steve Schwartzman
March 30, 2019 at 6:59 PM
I just realized what these remind me of. Look at Terry’s photos of his buttercups.
shoreacres
March 30, 2019 at 8:25 PM
Ah yes, now I remember his post. There’s a good resemblance between the two species in that genus. Genus-mates usually look alike but sometimes can be quite different.
Steve Schwartzman
March 30, 2019 at 8:33 PM
Absolutely gorgeous images. Thanks for sharing.
Isabel F. Bernaldo de Quirós
March 31, 2019 at 3:10 AM
You’re welcome, Isabel. I was tempted to say De nada, but then it occurred to me that nature isn’t nothing. (Unlike some other languages, English has a true double negative that’s equivalent to a positive.)
Steve Schwartzman
March 31, 2019 at 6:24 AM
There is a species of yellow daisy-type for which I cannot find a name. It looks like this buttercup except its seed head is a smooth, chocolate brown, raised slightly from the petals, but not as much as a Mexican hat would. It’s yellow with a slightly orange-y tint.
Shannon
April 4, 2019 at 5:45 AM
If you post a picture of it, someone might recognize it. You know how hard it can be to distinguish some of the DYCs, darn yellow composites.
Steve Schwartzman
April 4, 2019 at 8:06 AM
LOL It’ll be in my next scheduled post (tomorrow?). In the birding world, it’s the LBJ’s (little brown jobs) that drive us mad.
Shannon
April 4, 2019 at 8:14 AM
LBJ often has a different association for people in Texas. And now I’m reminded of the lyrics to one of the songs from “Hair”:
LBJ took the IRT
Down to 4th Street, USA.
When he got there
What did he see?
The youth of America on LSD.
The IRT is one of three originally separate subway lines in NY, the Interborough Rapid Transit.
You’ve added LOL.
We’ll see if we can identify your DYC.
Steve Schwartzman
April 4, 2019 at 8:28 AM