Lurid

The neighborhood listserve has an invitation to help plant lurid sedge, a native plant, in wetland nearby. The description of the plant, from New Moon Nursery, reads

Carex lurida is a large tufted wetland sedge. The narrow leaves are a bright yellow green and about 1’ long. In late spring stiff triangular culms rise above the foliage to 3’ bearing chartreuse bottlebrush shaped spikes. Attractive warm brown seed spikes follow. This bold sedge flourishes in sun or part sun in damp or wet sites. Carex lurida and other wetland sedges host caterpillars of Eyed Brown Butterflies and several species of Skippers and moths. Many wetland birds feed on the seed. The Sedge Wren feeds and nests in sites dominated by wetland sedges.This sedge has numerous common names. It is sometimes called lurid sedge due to the shockingly unexpected yellow color of the foliage and seed spikes. Some references call it sallow sedge again due to its yellowish “complexion”. Others call it shallow sedge perhaps in error or perhaps due to its ability to grow in shallow water.

Now, this was not my understanding of "lurid", but Skeat's Concise Dictionary of English Etymology says

Lurid, wan, gloomy. (L.) L. luridus, pale yellow, wan. Perhaps allied to Gk. χλωρός, green; see Chlorine.

The OED gives "pale and dismal" the priority, with citations beginning in the 17th Century. For "Shining with a red glow or glare" , the first citation is from the end of the 18th Century, and the figurative sense in which I have always known it to be used has a first citation from 1850.