Golden Ragwort (aka Flower of Disappointment)

Late in March, deep in the woods, I came across a colony of wildflowers that I didn't recognize. I was excited because it's rare these days for me to find a new wildflower so close to home. The tightly closed buds had a purplish tint on the outside, so I thought they were going to bloom purple. Over the weeks during April, I went back to that spot often, eager to see them bloom.

Well, they finally bloomed. Yellow. It's just Ragwort. I already posted pictures of Ragwort … only this isn't quite the same variety as I had found near my own house back in 2010.

The buds are different:


(Click on images to enlarge)

The upper leaves are more finely divided:



From what I can see of the 2010 pictures, I think the basal leaves here are wider, and more heart-shaped:



So I think what I've got here is Golden Ragwort, while the 2010 specimen was Round-leaved Ragwort.

Here are the yellow blossoms:



Here's my dog posing with the blossoms:



A different variety of a wildflower I've previously identified — that's about all I can hope for these days. But when I go to the Indiana Dunes National Park, I see all sorts of wildflowers I haven't identified. Maybe one of these days when I get some time (!) I will start learning about the Dunes wildflowers.