11 Yellow Wildflowers in Alaska (W/Pics!)
Did you find a YELLOW wildflower in Alaska?
If so, I’m sure you’re wondering what type of wildflower you found! Luckily, you can use this guide to help you identify it. 🙂
Please be aware that today I’m ONLY listing and focusing on the most COMMON plants. There are so many species, varieties, and subspecies that it would be impossible to name them all. But if you want to dive deeper into all the yellow wildflowers in Alaska, check out this field guide!
11 YELLOW wildflowers in Alaska.
#1. Yellow Marsh Marigold
- Caltha palustris
Also known as: Yellow Gowan, Cowslip, King’s Cup, Water Buttercup
Growing Information:
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-7
- Life Cycle: Perennial
- Approximate Mature Size: 8-24 in (20-61 cm) tall
- Bloom Time: Spring
- Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Sun
Yellow Marsh Marigold is an aquatic flower that grows in marshes, ditches, wet woods, and swamps. This yellow wildflower grows best in Alaska in cool, wet weather.
Famous for their brilliant yellow flowers that look like small goblets, Yellow Marsh Marigolds are not true marigolds; they’re actually a type of buttercup! As early bloomers, they will attract the first butterflies and hummingbirds in spring.
Yellow Marsh Marigolds are low-maintenance and disease-resistant plants. You can grow them in water gardens or along shallow bodies of water. Make sure they get plenty of sunlight to encourage more blooms.
#2. Dandelion
- Taraxacum officinale
Also known as: Common Dandelion, Lion’s Tooth, Blowball
Growing Information:
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-10
- Life Cycle: Perennial
- Approximate Mature Size: 6-12 in (15-30 cm) tall
- Bloom Time: Spring to Fall
- Sun Exposure: Full Sun
The bright yellow flowers that turn into balls of silver-tufted seed heads make Dandelions easy to recognize. Look for these yellow wildflowers in Alaska in meadows, fields, river shores, lakes, and disturbed habitats. Honeybees and other beneficial insects are attracted to Dandelions.
Dandelions tend to grow like weeds on lawns and roadsides. This species is native to Europe and Asia but has spread worldwide because of how resilient it is in most soil conditions.
You can eat the leaves, roots, and flowers of the Dandelion! They taste like honey when fresh but turn bitter as the plant ages. Use them to make jam, salad, wine, or tea.
#3. Yellow Lady’s Slipper
- Cypripedium parviflorum
Also known as: Moccasin Flower
Growing Information:
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-8a
- Life Cycle: Perennial
- Approximate Mature Size: 8-30 in (20-76 cm) tall
- Bloom Time: Spring to Summer
- Sun Exposure: Partial Shade
You can easily identify Yellow Lady’s Slipper for its purple-striped petals and sepals surrounding a bright yellow pouch. The blossoms look like delicate shoes, where they got their name.
Yellow Lady’s Slipper grows naturally in forests, river and lake shores, shrublands, and thickets. It attracts a wide variety of insect pollinators, particularly bees. As a result, this yellow wildflower is widespread across Alaska.
Yellow Lady’s Slipper is one of the easiest and most common orchids you can grow in your garden. Plant it in well-drained soils and partial shade to enjoy the unique blooms.
#4. Wild Parsnip
- Pastinaca sativa
Also known as: Common Parsnip
Growing Information:
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 4-8
- Life Cycle: Biennial or Perennial
- Approximate Mature Size: 48-59 in (122-150 cm) tall
- Bloom Time: Early Summer
- Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Sun
You might be familiar with parsnip as a delicious root vegetable, but its relative that grows in the wild is dangerous to your health! Wild Parsnips smell and taste like cultivated parsnips, except their leaves and stems cause severe blisters and burns. (see below!)
To identify this yellow wildflower in Alaska, look for its grooved stems and flat-topped flower clusters of yellow blooms.
Wild Parsnip is an invasive species in North America. It spreads rapidly, threatening to choke native plants and poisoning livestock that eats it. You can spot its vivid yellow blooms in ditches, roadsides, and abandoned fields in early spring.
#5. Wintercress
- Barbarea vulgaris
Also known as: Yellow Rocket, Herb Barbara
Growing Information:
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 5-9
- Life Cycle: Biennial or Perennial
- Approximate Mature Size: 12-24 in (30-61 cm) tall
- Bloom Time: Late Spring to Summer
- Sun Exposure: Partial Shade
Wintercress is a resilient wildflower that decorates fields with yellow blooms in spring. Its tall, upright stalks and dark green leaves will help you recognize this plant.
Native to Europe, Asia, and North Africa, this yellow wildflower is considered a weed throughout Alaska. You’re most likely to find it in croplands, construction sites, roadsides, railroads, and waste areas.
Despite being invasive, Wintercress does support wildlife. It’s an early source of nectar and pollen for butterflies and bees in the spring. Doves and grosbeaks also like to eat the seeds.
#6. Goldenrod
- Solidago
Also known as: Flat Topped Goldenrod, Canada Goldenrod, Tall Goldenrod
Growing Information:
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-9
- Life Cycle: Perennial
- Approximate Mature Size: 36-60 in (91-152 cm) tall
- Bloom Time: Late Summer to Fall
- Sun Exposure: Full Sun
There are over 120 species of Goldenrod native to North America!
The blooms of Goldenrod may be tiny, but they make up for their small size with their vibrant color in the summer and fall. They grow in clusters on top of branched stems with stiff leaves.
Although Goldenrod is often blamed for hay fever, pollen grains from similar-looking plants like ragweed are likely the culprit. Enjoying the uniquely-shaped blooms is perfectly safe, but this wildflower can spread aggressively in gardens. You can contain its growth by planting it in pots and pruning it regularly.
A wide variety of specialized bees, butterflies, and beetles rely on this native yellow wildflower in Alaska.
#7. Common Sunflower
- Helianthus annuus
Also known as: Wild Sunflower, Comb Flower, St. Bartholomew’s Star
Growing Information:
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 2-11
- Life Cycle: Annual
- Approximate Mature Size: 36-120 in (91-305 cm) tall
- Bloom Time: Summer
- Sun Exposure: Full Sun
The Common Sunflower is one of the most popular flowers all over the world, and rightfully so. The impressively large yellow petals and attractive dark centers are a classic sight in the late summer and early fall.
In the wild, look for sunflowers in prairies, grasslands, old fields, roadsides, and forest edges. But, of course, you will also find sunflowers in gardens where they’re enjoyed by people and animals alike.
Aside from their aesthetic value, Common Sunflowers also feed populations of bees, butterflies, and insect pollinators. Birds and mammals enjoy the seeds, and the best part is that you can eat them too for a tasty snack!
#8. Common Mullein
- Verbascum thapsus
Also known as: Flannel Plant, Big Taper, Velvet Dock
Growing Information:
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-9
- Life Cycle: Annual or Biennial
- Approximate Mature Size: 24-84 in (61-213 cm) tall
- Bloom Time: Summer
- Sun Exposure: Full Sun
Common Mullein is native to Europe, Asia, and Africa, but this yellow wildflower is now considered a naturalized species in Alaska. It grows so well that it can take over roadsides, meadows, and pasture lands.
You can recognize this wildflower by its small yellow blooms densely grouped on a tall stem and the velvety, dense leaves at the base of the plant. As the stems shoot upwards from a base of large leaves, the overall appearance of this plant might remind you of corn.
Common Mullein is a valuable medicinal plant. In ancient times, it was used to treat pulmonary diseases, inflammations, and various ailments. Today, you can find its dried leaves, flowers, and oil extracts in health stores.
#9. Sulphur Cinquefoil
- Potentilla recta
Also known as: Round-fruited Cinquefoil, Upright Cinquefoil
Growing Information:
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-8
- Life Cycle: Perennial
- Approximate Mature Size: 12-20 in (30-51 cm) tall
- Bloom Time: Late Spring to Summer
- Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Sun
Sulphur Cinquefoil is an invasive yellow wildflower in Alaska.
This fast-spreading species native to Africa, Asia, and Europe can threaten native plants and ecosystems. Make sure to avoid this plant!
In the wild, Sulphur Cinquefoil grows in nearly every habitat. Look for its yellow five-petalled blooms and upright leafy stems in disturbed areas, fields, wastelands, and along lake shorelines.
Sulphur Cinquefoil has a native look-alike called Slender Cinquefoil (Potentilla gracilis). This wildflower, which can safely be planted in gardens, has short hairs on its stems and leaves, and its flowers tend to be brighter than its non-native counterpart.
#10. Buttercups
- Ranunculus
Also known as: Spearworts, Water Crowfoots
Growing Information:
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 4-10
- Life Cycle: Annual or Biennial
- Approximate Mature Size: 8-18 in (20-46 cm) tall
- Bloom Time: Early Spring to Summer
- Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Sun
You may be familiar with the well-loved Buttercup, but you might not know that it is a genus of flowers with 600 unique species worldwide. Perhaps the most popular one is the Persian Buttercup, prized for its brilliant ruffled petals and tall stems.
Buttercups are most commonly known for their yellow flowers, but they also come in beautiful shades of orange, pink, red, purple, and cream. You can cut the flowers for arrangements and grow them in gardens to attract pollinators.
In Alaska, look for this yellow wildflower growing in moist habitats, fields, meadows, and roadsides. They usually bloom in the spring and summer.
#11. Spiny Sow-thistle
- Sonchus asper
Also known as: Rough Milk Thistle
Growing Information:
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 6b-9a
- Life Cycle: Annual or Biennial
- Approximate Mature Size: 11-43 in (28-110 cm) tall
- Bloom Time: Spring to Summer
- Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade
Spiny Sow-thistle is an invasive yellow wildflower that grows throughout Alaska. It can be found in pastures, roadsides, vacant lots, construction sites, grasslands, and waste areas. It’s native to Europe, North Africa, and Asia.
Don’t let Spiny Sow-thistle spread if you see it growing near your yard. It can overwhelm native plants and host diseases and pests that affect garden plants and crops. To identify Spiny Sow-thistle, look for spiky leaves and dandelion-like yellow flowers on tall stems.
Learn about other colors of wildflowers in Alaska:
White / Orange / Purple / Blue
Which of these yellow wildflowers have you seen before in Alaska?
Leave a comment below!
