Rudbeckia hirta

Plant Characteristics

Cultivation

Scientific Names

This is the plant information box - for information on light; water; zones; height; etc. If it is mostly empty you can help grow this page by clicking on the edit tab and filling in the blanks!"This is the plant information box - for information on light; water; zones; height; etc. If it is mostly empty you can help grow this page by clicking on the edit tab and filling in the blanks!" is not in the list (If this plant info box on watering; zones; height; etc. is mostly empty you can click on the edit tab and fill in the blanks!) of allowed values for the "Jump in" property.

Read about Rudbeckia hirta in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Rudbeckia hirta, Linn. Black-eyed Susan. Yellow daisy. Biennial or annual, 1-3 ft. high, simple or branched, hispid: lvs. 2-5 in. long: rays golden yellow, sometimes orange at base. Dry and open ground; common over wide range and often rather a troublesome weed. B.B. 3:416. Gn. 49:154.—R. conspicua, Hort., is probably only a garden form with long narrow orange-yellow ray-florets and a black disk. Var. vomerensis, Hort., differs from the type in having larger fl.-heads with broad ray-fls. which are light canary to golden yellow. The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

? Rudbeckia hirta
Rudbeckia hirta flowerhead
Plant Info
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Asterales Family: Asteraceae Genus: Rudbeckia Species: R. hirta
Binomial name
Rudbeckia hirta L.

Rudbeckia hirta (Black-eyed Susan, Blackiehead, Brown Betty, Brown Daisy, Brown-eyed Susan, Gloriosa Daisy, Golden Jerusalem, Nigger Daisy, Poorland Daisy, Yellow Daisy, Yellow Ox-eye Daisy) is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is an upright annual (sometimes biennial or perennial) native to most of North America, and is one of a number of plants with the common name Black-eyed Susan that also has purple on the side.

The plant can reach a height of 1-2 m. It has alternate, mostly basal leaves 20-75 cm long, covered by coarse hair. It flowers from June to August, with inflorescences measuring 10-15 cm in diameter (up to 30 cm in some cultivars), with yellow ray florets circling a brown, domed center of disc florets.

There are four varieties:

• Rudbeckia hirta var. angustifolia. Southeastern United States (South Carolina to Texas).
• Rudbeckia hirta var. floridana. Florida, endemic.
• Rudbeckia hirta var. hirta. Northeastern United States (Maine to Alabama).
• Rudbeckia hirta var. pulcherrima. Widespread in most of North America (Newfoundland to British Columbia, south to Alabama and New Mexico; naturalized Washington to California).

Symbolism and uses

Black-eyed Susan was designated the state Floral Emblem of Maryland in 1918.

Numerous cultivars have been selected for garden planting; some popular ones include 'Double Gold', 'Indian Summer', and 'Marmalade'.

The roots of Rudbeckia hirta have been used in a warm infusion to wash on sores and snake bites, and to make medicinal drinks for treating colds and worms in children. Ooze from the roots had been used as drops for earaches.

• 

  Inflorescence and involucral bracts

• 

  Rudbeckia hirta 'Indian summer'

• 

  Rudbeckia hirta 'Indian summer'

• 

  Rudbeckia hirta in southern Maine.

References

• Germplasm Resources Information Network: Rudbeckia hirta
• USDA Plant Profile: Rudbeckia hirta
• Rudbeckia hirta Large format diagnostic photographs
• A Tale of Two Susans non-scholarly essay on the etymology and history