Rudbeckia laciniata
Cut-Leafed Green-Headed Coneflower
General
A showy flowering perennial, with yellow flowers blooming July to September. Can spread rhizomatically and form colonies. Due to its attractive flowers, it is often used as an ornamental flower. The leaves of Rudbeckia laciniata can be cooked as an herb or eaten as a salad green.
Plant Description
Bright yellow compound flowers with green centers. Usually growing between 4-8'. Compound alternate leaves with palmately lobed leaflets. Young plants are single stemmed, branching at the top as they grow.
Height (ft)
4-8'
Soil moisture
Moist
Soil types
Loam or Silty Loam
Wetland indicator
FACW
Shade tolerance
Intermediate, Prefers Partial Shade
Bloom color
Yellow
Bloom period
Summer
Drought tolerance
High
Salinity tolerance
None
Range
Common throughout the eastern United States, from the Atlantic coast to the eastern edge of the Great Plains, and in the Rocky Mountains.
Kartesz, J.T. 2024. Floristic Synthesis of North America, Version 1.0. Biota of North America Program (BONAP) [website http://bonap.org/]
Additional Information
According to the BRIT - Native American Ethnobotany Database, the Cherokee would cook this species and put in salad or dry/freeze the leaves and stems for future use. They would also take the young shoots and boil/fry them in fat. The Chippewa would use the blooms in a poultice for burns. A compound infusion with the roots were used for indigestion or applied to a horse's chest and legs as a stimulant. The San Felipe would eat the young shoots like celery.