Black-eyed Susan

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Black-eyed Susan disk florets

Black-eyed Susan ray florets

Black-eyed Susan

Black-eyed Susan

Black-eyed Susan

Black-eyed Susan

Black-eyed Susan

Black-eyed Susan

Black-eyed Susan

Black-eyed Susan florets

Black-eyed Susan

Black-eyed Susan inflorescences

Black-eyed Susan leaves

Black-eyed Susan

Black-eyed Susan

Black-eyed Susan

Black-eyed Susan

Morphology

Stem

Erect, 1 to several, usually branched, coarsely spreading-hairy.

Leaves

Variable, alternate, simple, stalked below to sessile above, oblanceolate to elliptic, to 6 inches long, 1/2 to 2 inches wide, coarsely hairy; margins entire or shallow-toothed; tips mostly blunt; upper leaves lance-linear to oblong, reduced; tips pointed.

Inflorescence

Heads, solitary, terminal, on long stalks, hemispheric to egg-shaped, 2 to 3 inches wide; bracts sometimes prominently elongate, stiff-hairy.

Flower

Ray florets 8-21, 1 to 1.5 inch long, orange-yellow; disk florets dark purplish brown.

Fruit

Achenes, 4-angled, glabrous, black, without bristles or scales at tips, enclosing small seed.

Ecology

Habitat

Disturbed prairies, waste ground and roadsides.

Distribution

Principally east 1/2, sporadically in west of Kansas.

Practical Information

Toxicity

Rudbeckia species are thought to be poisonous to livestock.

Additional Notes