Butter & Eggs Toadflax

While driving down a dirt road that paralleled a pasture my eye caught this bright flowering plant about a foot off the road.  I had to turn around to investigate.  It had been one of those mixed weather days where we'd have bright sunshine and then heavy rains off and on.  Without the sun shining on the meadow I am not sure I would have noticed this plant.

This is the Common Toadflax, also known as butter & eggs toadflax.  It is a sturdy perennial herbaceous plant, native to Europe that has been naturalized in North America.  The flowers remain closed until larger insects force them open.  They prefer dry and arid lands but it is not unusual to see them on roadsides and meadows that have chalky, sandy gravels.

Once I got up close to the plant I could see it was still holding water droplets from the earlier rains.  It also had a couple of insects down under its flowers. See the close up images below.