as the default plotting colors in the MATLAB programming language since October 2014. Parula replaces the previous default, "Jet", which was a full rainbow- depiction color scheme. The company has stated that having a dichromatic color transition is an asset to data analysis as it eliminates the "Apparent changes" that occur over a rainbow color scheme. (Note that even a perfectly smooth color gradient over a rainbow will appear to have distinct stripes, which can obscure more subtle gradients in the data). The Parula colormap also has the effect that when plotted in grayscale, the colors also map to a smooth gradient from dark to light grey. References Sources New World Warblers by Curson, Quinn and Beadle, dictionary.com for derivation Merriam Webster dictionary for derivation Parulidae Bird genera Obsolete bird taxa Taxa named by Charles Lucien Bonaparte