This is Coltsfoot which might be mistaken for the common dandelion. Coltsfoot spreads by rhizomes which are horizontal stems running on, or just under, the surface of the soil, sending out new roots and shoots along the way. The Audubon book of Native Plants reports that Coltsfoot grows along roadsides and in waste places.
That having been said, I welcome Coltsfoot every year as it seems to be the earliest flower detected in March, and even February if the conditions are right. Coltsfoot brings a bright yellow-joy to marginal or useless situations. And Jesus said, "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete." (John 15:11) My joy...your joy.
I remember once seeing a badly behaved and emotionally stuck teenaged girl dissolve into convulsive tears, and when the staff member asked in frustration, "What do you want?" she blurted out, "I just want to be happy." Isn't that what every human person wants - to be happy and not to suffer?
So here's a simple thought for our everyday morality as we'll each make hundreds of decisions and choices today: to bring happiness...to alleviate suffering - maybe especially to those places and persons deemed miserable, negligible, barren, non-productive. We might scroll back up to the top now to have a more meditative look at the Coltsfoot plant which blooms bright yellow along roadsides and in waste places.
