Yellow & Orange Flowers

Plants with Yellow or Orange Flowers

Plants with yellow or orange flowers are a pretty diverse bunch, but there are some key families that contain a large number of the species. The daisy family is a good place to start as it contains some large groups, such as the dandelions and allies. Other important groups include the st. John's-worts, buttercups, brassicas and trefoils.

As well as flower colour, it is important to take careful note of the exact petal shape - are the petals rounded, or do they came to a sharp point, for example; are there gaps between the petals or do they overlap; are the flowers solitary, or arranged in spikes or bunches.

Within the colour sections, the pictures are grouped so that similar-looking (though not necessarily closely-related) plants will be near each other. This should help to reduce your search time. To keep things concise, not all species are shown in the colour keys, so you may have to go for a 'best match' to get you through to the next stage of the identification process. Particularly in large families where there are a number of very similar species, a representative species is shown here, but clicking on it will take you to a page that tells you how to tell the more difficult species apart.

Many plants will be obviously one colour or another, obviously five petalled, or obviously a woody shrub, etcetera. But many will be debatable. In such cases, I have tried to imagine how a flower might be perceived by others, especially beginners to plant identification. Generally this results in a plant appearing in more than one place on these pages, but some still remain problematic. In particular, the section labelled 'tubular flowers' contains a variety of flowers that might be considered to fall into that category and these generally have petals that are fused together to fully surround the sexual parts of the flower. But these tubes might be elongate like a pencil, or broad and bell-like. Flowers of two colours are entered under the colour that covers most of the flower, but truly bicoloured flowers may be entered under both colours. Woody plants with green stems that might not be considered woody, are entered under their flower colour or shape, as well as under the woody plants sections.

If you still can't find your plant, you either have something very interesting that you may wish to tell me about, or I just haven't got a picture of it yet - I'm still working on the latter!!

Click on the pictures below to go to the species pages.

No Petals


Meadow-rues - Fine, open heads of many petalless flowers, which may appear yellow due to the relatively large, dangling stamens	Daisy Family - Greenish-yellow 'cones' on low plants with feathery foliage	Daisy Family - Yellow discs like small buttons on low plants	Bur-marigolds - Yellow 'buttons' on weedy plants, often in wetlands


Daisy Family - Tight, yellow clusters of flowers with a tubular base	Umbellifers - Tiny clusters of orange-tinged flowers on delicate stems; hard to spot in grassy places	Ragweeds - Open heads of tightly clustered flowers above deeply cut leaves	Groundsels - Tight, yellow clusters of flowers with a tubular base on small annual plants

Groundsels - Tight, yellow clusters of flowers with a tubular base on small annual plants

Three Petals


Irises - Three large, rounded petals hanging down, plus three smaller, less obvious petals standing upright in the centre	Irises - Three large, rounded petals hanging down, plus three smaller, less obvious petals standing upright in the centre

Four Petals


Poppies - Four, very broadly overlapping petals	Poppies - Four, very broadly overlapping petals	Poppies - Four, very broadly overlapping petals	Evening-primroses - Flowers atop upright stems with willow-like leaves; petals often large and floppy


Tormentils - Low, scrambling or trailing plants in grassy places	Wallflowers - Variously yellow, orange or reddish flowers	Cabbage Family - Pale creamy-yellow flowers with darker veins	Greater Celandine - Few flowers in an open hdead; plant has bright yellow-orange, POISONOUS sap


Cabbage Family - Flowers in tight heads, elongating as the seed pods develop below	Small Alison - Tiny plants with flowers in tight, hairy clusters. Very rare	Crosswort - Greenish-yellow flowers in whorls up the stem	Bedstraws - Open 'frothy' heads of small flowers on low-growing plants


Golden-saxifrages - No petals, but four, yellow sepals, in flat heads atop rounded, fleshy leaves; shady streamsides and similar wet places	Barrenworts - Complex flowers, appearing as if four-petalled, in graceful, open spikes. Low plants forming spreading patches	Cabbage Family - Petals very narrow, upright; flowers clustered in loose heads and followed by long seed pods	Evening-primroses - Flowers atop upright stems with willow-like leaves; petals often large and floppy

Five Petals


Nasturtiums - Trailing or climbing plants with circular leaves	Hollyhocks - Large, round flowers in a very tall spike	Common Rock-rose - Low-growing plant in sunny, grassy places. Flowers with many stamens	Meadow-foam - Flowers yellow and white like poached eggs


Water-primroses - Plants forming spreading mats of vegetation beside waterways and floating on the water surface	Prickly Mallow - Weak-growing annuals of disturbed ground with simple leaves	Golden-saxifrages - Tiny flowers in open heads with yellow, leafy bracts and slightly succulent leaves	Primroses - Early spring flowers in wooded and grassy areas


Buttercups - Brilliant yellow flowers often in abundance in grassy places	Creeping-Jenny - Creeping plants with flowers on short stalks	Primroses - Early spring flowers in wooded and grassy areas	Mulleins - Pale yellow flowers with prominent, furry stamens


Marsh St John's-wort - Low, creeping plant in wet bogs. Rare	Gourds & Cucumbers - Large, floppy flowers on trailing or climbing plants	Kerria - Twiggy bushes with thin, green, wiry stems	Monkeyflowers - Flowers tubular at the base, opening to showy, five-petalled mouths


Loosestrifes - Flowers in upright spikes and often with orange centres	Common Purslane - Tiny flowers on succulent, creeping plants	Mulleins - Pale yellow flowers with prominent, furry stamens	Cinquefoils - Petals notched at tip; low, creeping plants with three- or five-parted leaves


Wood Avens - Flowers in branched spikes followed by barbed seedheads	Hybrid Avens - Solitary or small clusters of flowers on nodding stems followed by barbed seedheads	Common Rue - Evergreen bushes with highly aromatic, blue-green foliage	Common Henbane - Dull yellow flowers with dark purple veins on clammy-hairy plants


Yellow Pimpernel - Creeping plants with flowers on long stalks	Fringed Water-lily - Flowers resemble small water-lilies; growing in ponds	St John's-worts - Petals and sepals usually with black dots; leaves often with translucent dots (hold up to light)	Tutsans - Groundcover plants or thin, bushy plants with more or less evergreen leaves


Velvetleaf - Upright plants with heart-shaped, very velvety leaves	Mexican Marigolds - Small annuals with pinnate leaves and a cluster of tiny, petalless flowers clustered at the centre of a compound flower	Mexican Marigolds - Small annuals with pinnate leaves and a cluster of tiny, petalless flowers clustered at the centre of a compound flower	Cucumber family - Solitary flowers on stocky trailing or climbing plants with large leaves


Spearworts - Slightly fleshy-leaved plants of wet places	Yellow-sorrels - Low, creeping plants with trifoliate leaves; mostly in urban habitats	Buttercups - Flowers with small, sometimes poorly-formed petals and swollen green centres	Beggarticks & Allies - Broadly strap-shaped petals around a clusterd head of many, petalless flowers


Fiddlenecks - Flowers in a coiled spike, which unfurls as the flowers open	Gromwells - Pale yellow flowers with a tubular base	Stonecrops - Flowers in heads with long, obvious stamens, above very fleshy leaves	Brooms & Gorses - Broad petals, the upper one the largest, the lower two fused to form a boat-shaped 'keel'


Vetches & Trefoils - Broad petals, the upper one the largest, the lower two fused to form a boat-shaped 'keel'	Pansies - Various mixes of yellow, white and purple flowers, with dark lines near the centre	Cucumber family - Large and floppy, solitary flowers on stocky trailing or climbing plants with large leaves	Cucumber family - Large and floppy, solitary flowers on stocky trailing or climbing plants with large leaves

Six Petals


Montbretia - Spikes of brilliant orange flowers above grass-like leaves	Orange Day-lily - Flowers on long stems, above strap-like leaves	Yellow-eyed-grasses - Very low plant with grass-like leaves	Yellow Star-of-Bethlehem - Small, star-like flowers; rare in ancient woodland


Bog Asphodel - Spikes of brilliant yellow flowers with prominent, hairy stamens, growing in acid bogs	Yellow Garlic - Rounded heads of six-petalled flowers, on upright stalks


Water-primroses - Plants forming spreading mats of vegetation beside waterways and floating on the water surface	Lilies - Clusters of orange or yellow flowers, marked with dark streaks	Lilies - Flowers with strongly recurved petals, at the top of an upright, leafy stem	Tulips - Spring flowering from bulbs, flowers in a wide range of colours, single atop a slender stem


Winter Aconite - Six petal-like sepals, surrounded beneath by a ruff of green, frilly bracts; late winter or very early spring	Tulips - Bright and showy spring flowers, arising from bulbs	Crocuses - Flowers fused into a narrow tube at the base; narrow leaves with a white stripe	Daffodils - Six free petals with a tubular centre. Flowers come in many shades of yellow and orange


Irises - Three large, rounded petals hanging down, plus three smaller, less obvious petals standing upright in the centre	Irises - Three large, rounded petals hanging down, plus three smaller, less obvious petals standing upright in the centre	Gladioli - Broad-petalled flowers arranged in a vertical spike

More Than Six Petals


Yellow-wort - Eight-petalled flowers atop stems with perfoliate leaves	Lesser Celandine - Eight to twelve petals on low plant, forming spreading mats; woods, roadsides and grassy places	Lesser Celandine - Eight to twelve petals on low plant, forming spreading mats; woods, roadsides and grassy places	Lesser Celandine - Eight to twelve petals on low plant, forming spreading mats; woods, roadsides and grassy places


Daisy family - Strap-like petals with a contrastingly dark centre	Daisy family - Showy heads made up of many-petalled flowers	Daisy family - Flower head made up of a ring of strap-like petals with petalless flowers in the centre	Yellow-eyed-grasses - Long spikes of pale yellow flowers with grass-like leaves


Water-lilies - Large, neatly rounded flowers growing in water	Poppies - Varying number of very broadly overlapping petals	Daffodils - Six free petals with a mass of twisted petals in the centre. Flowers come in many shades of yellow and orange	Kerria - Twiggy bushes with thin, green, wiry stems


Hollyhocks - Pompom flowers in a very tall spike	Rose-moss - Pompom flowers on creeping plants with succulent, needle-like leaves	Aster Family - Heads of bright orange, dandelion-like flowers on walls or in lawns	Niger - Daisy-like flowers with eight broad petals


Mexican Marigolds - Small annuals with pinnate leaves and a relatively large, pompom head of yellow or orange flowers with many petals	Mexican Marigolds - Small annuals with pinnate leaves and a compound, pompom head of yellow or orange flowers with many petals	Mexican Marigolds - Small annuals with pinnate leaves and a compound, pompom head of yellow or orange flowers with many petals	Groundsels - Tight, yellow clusters of flowers with a tubular base and small, strap-like petals that are often curved back


Goldenrods - Small flowers packed together into large clusters on upright stems, often forming spreading colonies	Lettuces & Allies - Small flowers packed together into large clusters on upright stems	Water-lilies - Large, many-petalled flowers growing in water among floating leaves	Tricolour Chrysanthemum - Showy daisy flowers with bands of different colours on the petals and deeply cut leaves


Garden Dahlia - Showy daisy flowers with ornamental petals and pinnate, coarsely-toothed leaves	Cape Daisy Hybrids - Large, showy flowers, the petals with darker undersides

Many-rayed Flowers


Daisy family - Strap-like petals around the outside with a cluster of petalless flowers in the centre	Daisy family - Strap-like petals around the outside with a cluster of petalless flowers in the centre	Daisy family - Strap-like petals around the outside with a cluster of petalless flowers in the centre	Dewplants - Creeping plants with fleshy leaves and large flowers


Tricolour Chrysanthemum - Showy daisy flowers with bands of different colours on the petals and deeply cut leaves	Yellow Knapweeds - Tight flowerheads with solid bases and 'fluffy' tops	Yellow Thistles - Thistle-like flowers that are yellow or creamy yellow in colour	Safflowers - Tight flowerheads with solid bases and 'fluffy' tops, on prickly plants

Tubular Flowers (petals fused into a tube-like form)


Yellow Skunk-cabbage - Strange yellow hood in spring, before leaves. Grows in swampy ground	Birthworts - Clusters of flowers in the leaf axils	Foxgloves - Narrow, tubular flowers, arranged in a tall spike	Crocuses - Six petals free at the top but fused into a narrow tube at the base


Balsams - Delicate, hanging flowers with long nectar spur at back	Balsams - Delicate, hanging flowers with long nectar spur at back	Marvel-of-Peru - Flowers of yellow, orange, pink or red with narrow, tubular base, opening at night	Common Cowslip - Narrow flowers in a cluster atop a single stem


Monkeyflowers - Flowers tubular at the base, opening to showy, five-petalled mouths	Snapdragons - Tubular flowers with broadened lips forming a two-lobed 'mouth', on trailing plants; rare	Germanders - Flowers tubular at the base, opening to a large, rounded lower lip, but no upper lip to the flower, leaving the stamens exposed	Toadflaxes - Narrow flowers with long spurs at the back, in upright spikes


Yellow Figwort - Flowers rounded like small bladders; petals small and hard to count	Dead-nettle family - Flowers with a tubular base, opening to broadly five-lipped mouths	Dead-nettle family - Flowers with a tubular base, opening to broadly five-lipped mouths	Broomrape family - Flowers with a tubular base, opening to a broad-lipped mouth


Broomrape family - Flowers with a tubular base, opening to a narrow, two-lipped mouth	Broomrape family - Flowers narrowly tubular, opening to a narrow mout	Yellow Corydalis - Flowers on succulent stems above ferny foliage; usually growing from walls	Bladderworts - Broadly tubular flowers with a two-lobed mouth; in short spikes emerging from water


Comfreys - Bunches of hanging flowers with large, roughly hairy leaves	Daisy family - Tight, yellow clusters of flowers with a tubular base	Groundsels - Tight, yellow clusters of flowers with a tubular base	Cudweed allies - Tight, yellow clusters of flowers with a tubular base and papery phyllaries


Yellow Bird's-nest - Almost colourless plants with no leaves and flowers clustered at the top of a short stem	Red-hot-pokers - Flowers densely packed in upright spikes; orange, turning to yellow when mature	New Zealand Flaxes - Flowers with protruding stamens, carried in clusters on tall, branching spikes above long, sword-shaped leaves	Tulips - Spring flowering from bulbs, flowers single atop a slender stem


Daisy family - Tight, yellow clusters of flowers with a tubular base	Hybrid Petunia - Large, showy flowers with thin, floppy petals fused together into a tube at the base

Many-flowered Heads


Foxgloves - Narrow, tubular flowers, arranged in a tall spike	Cape Figworts - Narrow, tubular flowers, arranged in a one-sided spike on woody-based plants	Yellow Garlic - Rounded heads of six-petalled flowers, on upright stalks	Tufted Loosestrife - A rare introduction of damp ground; flowers with five, very narrow petals and flowers tightly bunched in the leaf axils


Montbretia - Spikes of brilliant orange flowers above grass-like leaves	Daffodils - Six free petals with a tubular centre. Flowers come in many shades of yellow and orange	Yellow-eyed-grasses - Long spikes of pale yellow flowers with Sword-like leaves	Agrimonies - Long spikes of five-petalled flowers, followed by bristly seedheads


Common Kidney Vetch - Tight, very hairy heads of narrow, tubular, 'pea' flowers	Yellow Corydalis - Flowers on succulent stems above ferny foliage; usually growing from walls	Trefoils - Small, dense heads of 'hooded' flowers above trifoliate leaves. Small annuals of disturbed ground	Meadow-rues - Fine, open heads of petalless flowers, which may appear yellow due to the relatively large, dangling stamens


Hollyhocks - Large, round flowers in a very tall spike	Alisons - Large heads of golden yellow, four-petalled flowers on low plants	Crosswort - Greenish-yellow flowers in whorls up the stem	Mignonettes - Upright spikes of delicate flowers with four narrow petals


Rhubarbs - Huge, spreading flowerhead of tiny, creamy flowers above massive, crinkled leaves	Scabiouses - Tight heads of many cream-coloured flowers, with the outer flowers having larger petals	Tansies - Flat heads of many, button-like, petalless flowers	Mulleins - Single or branched spikes of showy, five-petalled flowers with prominent, furry stamens


Umbellifers - Flat heads of small flowers on radiating stalks	Daisy family - Showy heads made up of many-petalled flowers	Sages - Tubular flowers in circular heads, older plants woody at the base	Cudweed allies - Tight, yellow clusters of flowers with a tubular base and papery phyllaries


Red-hot-pokers - Flowers densely packed in upright spikes; orange, turning to yellow when mature	Goldenrods - Small flowers packed together into large clusters on upright stems, often forming spreading colonies	Goldenrods - Small flowers packed together into large clusters on upright stems, often forming spreading colonies	Spurges - Strange, greenish-yellow flowers in large, clustered heads at the tips of the branches

Woody Trees, Shrubs & Climbers


American Tulip-tree - Large, greenish-yellow and orange flowers on large trees in early summer, rare in parks and amenity sites	St John's-worts - Long-stamened flowers on rounded, leafy bushes	Kerria - Twiggy bushes with thin, green, wiry stems	Winter Jasmine - Bright flowers on bare, angular, green stems during the colder months


Forsythias - Masses of four-petalled flowers crowding the stems before the leaves in spring	Kerria - Twiggy bushes with thin, green, wiry stems	Sages - Tubular flowers in circular heads, older plants woody at the base	Cornelian-cherry - Small, four-petalled flowers in tight clusters on bare branches during the winter


Butterfly-bushes - Flowers in tight balls on opposite-paired stalks	Butterfly-bushes - Flowers in tight balls, strung together in longer spikes	Cape Figworts - Narrow, tubular flowers, arranged in a one-sided spike on woody-based plants	Chilean Glory-flower - Brilliant orange flowers on a tangled, scrambling climber


Laburnums - Hanging bunches of flowers on trees with trifoliate leaves	Tree Lupin - Upright spikes of 'pea' flowers on bushes with fingered leaves; mostly coastal	Brooms & Gorses - Broad petals, the upper one the largest, the lower two fused to form a boat-shaped 'keel', on wiry, green-stemmed plants, or very spiny bushes	Azaleas - Showy, five-petalled flowers on multistemmed bushes


Honeysuckles - Small, bell-shaped flowers, hidden beneath branches of evergreen leaves	Barberries - Hanging bunches of five-petalled flowers on spiny bushes	Barberries - Hanging bunches of five-petalled flowers on spiny, evergreen bushes	Oregon-grapes - Tight bunches of flowers above shiny, leathery leaves with prickly margins


Maples - Showy bunches of bright yellow flowers, opening just before the leaves	Maples - Showy, hanging bunches of pale yellow flowers, opening with the leaves	Cornelian-cherry - Rounded clusters of yellow flowers, opening before the leaves in late Winter or early Spring	Currants - Bunches of bright flowers with a clove scent


Wireplant - Small bunches of cream-coloured or off-white flowers on blackish, wiry, climbing or rambling stems	Bog Myrtle - Stiff, greenish-yellow flower clusters atop twiggy bushes; all parts of plant heavily scented; in wet areas	Hazels, birches and alders - Flowers in dangling 'lamb's tails' in winter or early spring	Willows - Upright, fluffy 'catkins'


Willows & Osiers - Petalless flowers densely packed into upright spikes, opening in spring	Poplars - Petalless flowers densely packed into hanging spikes or catkins, opening in spring	Sweet Chestnut - Petalless flowers densely packed into stiff, radiating spikes or catkins, opening in summer	Limes - Green-petallesd flowers in loose clusters, hanging beneath a curved, leaf-like bract


Palms - Exotic, evergreen trees with large, fan-like or pinnate leaves	Orange-peel Clematis - Vigorous, tangled climbers with solitary, four-petalled flowers	Shrubby Cinquefoil - A dense-branched, low shrub, the hairy leaves with five leaflets	Ake-Ake - Evergreen bushes with tough, leathery leaves which are thickly felted with white hairs beneath

Flora of East Anglia An Identification Guide

Plants with Yellow or Orange Flowers

Group List

Flora of East Anglia
An Identification Guide