Skip to main content

Sweet coneflower

Rudbeckia subtomentosa Pursh

Images

Click on image to view full size

Sweet coneflower heads
Sweet coneflower leaf
Sweet coneflower
Sweet coneflower leaf
Sweet coneflower
Sweet coneflower
Sweet coneflower
Sweet coneflower
Sweet coneflower leaves

Morphology

Stem
Erect, usually branched above, densely hirsute above, not glaucous.
Leaves
Basal and cauline, alternate; blade ovate to elliptic, 1.2 to 12 inches long, .4 to 6 inches wide, base truncate to cuneate, margins usually 3-5-lobed, ultimate margins coarsely toothed, tip obtuse to acute or acuminate, surfaces densely hirsute, not glaucous.
Inflorescence
Heads 8-25, radiate, solitary or in corymb-like or panicle-like arrays.
Flower
Phyllaries 15-23, lanceolate to linear, .2 to .6 inch. Receptacles hemispheric to broadly ovoid. Ray florets 12-21, neuter; corolla yellow, ligule spreading, .8 to 1.6 inch long, .2 to .3 inch wide. Disk florets 200-400, bisexual, fertile; corolla brownish purple, .12 to .16 inch, tubular, lobes 5.
Fruit
Achenes black, obpyramidal, 4-angled, glabrous, .1 to .14 inch; pappus of minute teeth.

Ecology

Habitat
Mesic tallgrass prairies and ravines, moist thickets and pastures, river and stream banks, ditches.
Distribution
East 1/5 of Kansas

Additional Notes

Comments

Rudbeckia, for Olaus Johannes Rudbeck and his son Olaus Olai Rudbeck, Swedish botanists, and subtomentosa, slightly woolly, alluding to the downy hairs on the stems and under surfaces of the leaves. Rudbeckia subtomentosa occurs in drainage areas where moisture is available near the surface.

Quick Facts
Plant Type
Wildflower
Family
Asteraceae - Sunflower Family
Life Span
Perennial
Height
40-80 inches
Origin
Native
Last Updated
2014-01-20
Color Groups
Yellow Wildflowers
Flowering Period
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Blooms: July, August, September