
Mexican Hat Wildflower

by Gordon Beningfield
Title
Mexican Hat Wildflower
Artist
Gordon Beningfield
Medium
Painting - Watercolor On Watercolor Paper
Description
Easy to identify with its sombrero-shaped flowers, Mexican hat grows in calcium rich soils of prairies, dry plains and roadsides. A hardy, drought tolerant perennial, Mexican hat spreads easily by seed and often covers large areas. Livestock and other herbivores frequently graze on the tender young plants. In southern climates, Mexican hat stays evergreen during mild winters. The flower heads -- attached to leafless stalks -- bloom from June to September. The sterile, drooping ray flowers vary in color from yellow to red or a combination of both colors.The tiny yellow disk flowers, arranged on an elongated, cone-like structure, open from bottom to top as they mature. The cone reportedly smells like anise when crushed. Mexican hat also is called prairie coneflower. Native Americans used various parts of Mexican hat for food and medicine; the leaves and flower heads were steeped for tea, while the roots helped cure toothaches.
Gordon Beningfield was born in London, but spent his childhood in rural Hertfordshire. He began his career as an ecclesiastical artist, and his commissions included engravings of seven glass Memorial Windows for the Brigade of Guards in the Guard's Chapel, London. Although he began to build a reputation for himself as a wildlife artist in the early 1960s, it wasn't until 1974 that a Look Stranger television program brought his work to the notice of a larger audience. After that, Beningfield was regularly in the public eye with periodic appearances on the BBC's In the Country program. The quality of his work, of course, steadily enhanced his reputation as one of Britain's leading painters of the countryside. His work first appeared in book form in 1978 with the publication of Beningfield's Butterflies, followed by Beningfield's Countryside. Many of his works have been displayed in international exhibits. His art was first immortalized on postage stamps in 1981 when his paintings of Britain's butterflies were chosen to be featured on that year's special British stamp issue. His appearances on television and publication of books made him a familiar artist in both the United States and the United Kingdom.
Please note the "Fine Art America" watermark will not appear on the painting or any print reproduction.
Artwork Copyright © 1991 Wind River Studios Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved under United States and international copyright laws. You may not reproduce, distribute, transmit, or otherwise exploit the Artwork in any way. Any sale of the physical original does not include or convey the Copyright or any right comprised in the Copyright. WRSH Stock Number XB13076
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April 6th, 2022
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