Mules and horses

 

Narrow-leaved Mule's-ears (Wyethia angustifolia)

A very fuzzy bee was also very interested in the flowers: 

 

Here are the long, slender leaves that give this wildflower part of its name.  The leaves can be up to 20 inches long.  (Hmmm...how long are a mule's ears?)

 

And here's a close-up of the leaf patterning:

 

The genus, Wyethia, is named after Nathaniel Wyeth, an inventor (of a horse-drawn ice cutter) and expedition leader.  (Wyeth has connections to Fresh Pond in Cambridge, MA!).  In the early 1800s, he traveled across the country with Thomas Nuttall (of Nuttall's Woodpecker) and John Kirk Townsend (of Townsend's Warbler).