Rudbeckia laciniata - Cutleaf Coneflower

Sizes available: HPP quart

Basics: zones 3-9, 2-9' x 1-3', full sun to part shade, 4" flower with reflexed, yellow petals and pronounced greenish yellow cone held very high above a large clump of deeply dissected foliage in late summer to early fall, prefers consistent moisture and slightly acidic soil.

Common names: Cutleaf Coneflower, Outhouse Flower, Green-headed Coneflower, Goldenglow, Sochan, Thimbleweed

Family: Asteraceae

Origin/Distribution: Quebec to northern Florida, west to Idaho and Arizona. Native to Maine. These plants were grown from seed collected in New England.

Habitat: streamside, flood plain, damp lightly shaded woods and wood's edge, wet fields, alluvial thickets

More: Makes a good cut flower. Attractive to pollinators. Larval host for the Wavy-lined Emerald, Synchlora aerata, which is native to Maine. Native bees use the hollow stems as nest sites. Best practice to encourage over-wintering bees is to cut the plant back to about 24" in the fall and leave the stems as is, allowing the new spring growth to over top them in the next season. This ensures secure long term sites for bees to complete their life cycles. Songbirds will eat the seeds and Goldfinches particularly enjoy them. The young leaves can be cooked and eaten in the spring. Rudbeckia laciniata has been in cultivation as an ornamental garden plant in Europe since as early as the 17th century and has naturalized considerably there. It is a strong, rhizomatous spreader when conditions are right, so best planted with other strong growers like Joe Pye Weed, New England Asters, and Switch Grass. Deer may browse the leaves to little overall detriment of the plant. Has been used medicinally.

Source: Van Berkum

Image credit: Katja Schultz via Creative Commons through the North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox