Reader Laurie has a question for the Bernalwood Intelligence Agency:
Do you think any of your readers would be able to ID this yellow flower, sketched on the west side of the hill yesterday?
The largest one was just over an inch in diameter.
16 thoughts on “Bernal Artist Seeks Help Identifying Lovely Yellow Flower”
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Bernalwood 
Probably a wild pansy/johnny-jump-up (viola nuttallii
http://wildflowerswest.org/wildflowers-yellow-page-6.htm?thumb7080
Nice drawing!
Bingo, that’s the one! The rusty brown streaks on some of the petals were just like in the photo of the wild pansy. thank you!
Early buttercup or creeping buttercup? Not a flower expert. Just poked around online.
Looks like sour grass to me. As a kid growing up in Noe Valley we used to chew on it all the time. The correct name is Yellow Oxalis. Its all over the City…especially after the rain. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_sorrel
I agree. Common plant around here. Hard to tell without some foliage.
This was my first guess, Yellow Oxalis. It can be hard to love, a little pushy and invasive.
As a kid it had an acquired taste.
Hmm… they look like to oxalis to me. Here’s a google image of one: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/Oxalis_luteola_1.jpg/220px-Oxalis_luteola_1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxalis&h=190&w=220&sz=26&tbnid=94aHNHU1u4C_BM:&tbnh=104&tbnw=120&zoom=1&docid=PBs4d5K3JXiyoM&sa=X&ei=7tJoT_C-CqOtiALusrzqBg&ved=0CFAQ9QEwAQ&dur=63
Great drawings! Hard to say without an image of the foliage, but if it is oxalis, I’ve got a garden full that the artist is welcome to come collect for future art. 🙂
Oxalis is probably the culprit. It’s considered a weed by many because it spreads so fast. You can eat the flowers and stems but watch out – the oxalic acid will turn your stomach if you eat too much “sour flower!”
Thanks to all who sent in their ID’s. I will say that it’s definitely not oxalis–I too have those aplenty in my back yard. I’m voting for the wild pansy referenced in the first comment, as it had rusty streaks on some of the petals, and had a more orangy tint than oxalis, with a very pansy-ish shape. Next time I’ll draw the flower a little more precisely and from the front, and will try to find some foliage to draw (the flowers were only barely visible in long grass, and I couldn’t see the foliage without disrupting things more than I wanted to).
– Laurie
That oxalis is actually oxalis pes-caprae– Bermuda Buttercup, although I believe it is a South African escapee, hard to control. Spreads via tiny root fragments that are difficult to find.
I’ve seen these on the west slope of Bernal for many years, just above the Esmeralda steps. I’ve always ID’d them as as Viola pedunculata- commonly known as wild Johnny-Jump-Up.
Yes, it’s Viola pedunculata if that darkened calyx has anything to say about it. (And we have very little oxalis on the west side of the Hill as of yet.)
We have a small population on the hill, which Hill stewards try to augment with out planting. Next year we’re going to try some new techniques, including direct sewing to see if we can get better take.
It’s a wonderful wildflower that in other parts of the peninsula is the larval host plant to an endangered butterfly, the Callippe Silverspot.
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