Zizia aurea, golden Alexanders, is a fairly common native wildflower and a great plant for a naturalized landscape. It is one of the earlier blooming natives, producing attractive yellow umbels - flat-topped flowers -atop persistent shiny green divided leaves. It needs a farly good, moist soil to thrive, but will survive moderate droughts. It is found in east and central North America in woods. The technical feature that distinguished it from other native plants in the carrot family is the absence of a flower stalk beneath the central cluster of florets. It is also alphabetically the last native species found in Illinois.