Fire and yellow crownbeard

 The experts say that yellow crownbeard, Verbesina occidentalis, often grows in areas that have been disturbed. When talking of “disturbed” land, the experts are talking about humans — our love of roads, plowed fields and strip developments. I’m wondering whether fire counts.

We were walking through an area near Alexander Lake that the rangers had burned a couple of years ago. The idea was to clear the pine straw and underbrush. The forest floor was impossibly green in May. Native muscadine vines and invasive Japanese stilt grass were growing among the pines and hardwoods. 

Since then, yellow crownbeard has taken the place. The plants were as tall as 8 feet, and the stands were thick. You’d go around — not through — them. I’m expecting to see a sea of yellow blooms in about three weeks.