Cone flower – Rudbeckia hirta

Common Name: Black-Eyed Susan, Cone flower

Botanical Name: Rudbeckia hirta, rud-BEK-ee-a HIR-ta

Decorative Life: 2-4 plus weeks depending on environment.

Flower Color: Orange, Purple, Red, Yellow

Availability: Fall, Summer

Harvest when flowers are fully opened.

Store at 36-41F but only for a short time.

• Named by Linnaeus for Olof Rudbeck (1660-1740) who was a professor at Upsala University. Rudbeck’s father, Olof the elder, founded Upsala’s botanic garden.
• The Compositae or aster family is vast, with over 20,000 species, and is also one of the most developed families. It was named Compositae because the flowers are actually a “composite” of many individual flowers into one head. Hence, when children pull one “petal” off at a time, saying “she/he loves me, loves me not”, they are actually removing a complete flower, not just a petal.
• The specific epithet name “hirta” means hairy, in reference to its hairy stems and leaves.
• One good cultivar is ‘Becky’ that has yellow with reddish flower markings.