belly flower n West, esp CA
A small and low-growing wildflower.
1955 Julian Apple Day [12] csCA, Tiny, vivid “belly-flowers,” so called because you must stretch on the ground to see them properly in their natural state. 1961 ID State Jrl. (Pocatello) 21 Feb 2/8, Vernon Burlison, extension forester, . . . expalined [sic] that “belly flowers” are those that cannot be seen unless the camper is very low. He said many hikers never see these small flowers. 1965 Independent (Pasadena CA) 3 Mar 7/1, I was up in the Lake Isabella region recently and the belly flowers are all out—bright tiny things adding an almost microscopic cover of color to the greening earth. 1974 Los Alamos Monitor (NM) 5 June 8/1, [Caption:] Mrs. Avery Nagle points to a “belly flower,” one of some 200 wildflower varieties in Los Alamos county. 2010 in 2014 DARE File—Internet CA, I have a particular fondness for what are commonly referred to in the wildflower parlance as “belly flowers.” These are tiny blossoms that pave the environment with color but live so close to the ground that you practically do need to get on your belly to see them.