SCIENTIFIC NAME: Rudbeckia subtomentosa
COMMON NAMES: Sweet Coneflower, Sweet Black-eyed Susan
BLOOM TIME: Aug, Sept, Oct
PLANT PROFILE:
- Plants grow up to 6 ft. tall with branched near top.
- Dense short hairs on upper stem
- Flower heads are on long individual stems up to 3 in. wide.
- The heads have 6-20 petal-rays around a brown central disk.
- Flowers have an anise scent.
- Habitat: open woods, prairies; prefers full sun.
INSECT/ANIMAL INTERACTIONS:
- Many insects visit flowers for nectar or pollen, including little carpenter bees, cuckoo bees, digger bees, leaf-cutting bees, Halictid bees, & dagger bees.
- Wasps, Vespid wasps, Syrphid flies, bee flies, Tachinid flies, small- to medium-sized butterflies, skippers, beetles, and true bugs.
- Bees are the most important pollinators for this plant.
- The bee species, Heterosarus rudbeckiae, is a specialist pollinator.
- Caterpillars of the butterfly, Silvery Checkerspot & moths, Gray-blotched Epiblema, Common Pug, & Wavy-lined Emerald sometimes feed on this species as a host plant.