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• Rudbeckia laciniata

Rudbeckia laciniata — green-headed coneflower

Facts

Some cultivars of green-headed coneflower are grown as garden ornamentals, and these may occasionally escape. Wild plants are typically found on lake and river shores, in swamps and riparian forests. Native Americans ate the young stems and leaves raw or cooked.

Habitat

Floodplain (river or stream floodplains), forests, shores of rivers or lakes, swamps, wetland margins (edges of wetlands)

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Bases of bract appendages

  NA

  Bract inner side hairs

  the bracts are not hairy on their inner surfaces

  Bract margins

  there are fine hairs along the bract margins

  Bract outer side hair type

  the bracts are not hairy on their outer surface

  Bract outer side hairs

  the bracts are not hairy on their outer surfaces

  Bract shape

  • the main bracts are lanceolate (widest above the base, then taper narrowly towards the tip)
  • the main bracts are oblanceolate (widest near the tip, but otherwise narrow and tapering)
  • the main bracts are ovate (egg-shaped)

  Bract texture

  the bracts have a similar texture to a leaf

  Bract tip orientation

  the tips of the bracts curve outwards and downwards from the plant

  Bract tip shape

  the tips of the bracts acute (have a sharp point)

  Bract width

  2–5

  Disk flower color

  yellow

  Disk flower number

  more than 50

  Disk flower reproductive parts

  the disk flower has both pollen- and seed-producing parts

  Disk width

  20–30 mm

  Flower head number

  • each flowering stem has four or more flower heads on it
  • each flowering stem has only one to three flower heads on it

  Flower head outer flowers

  at the outer edge of the flower head, each flower has a single enlarged lobe or strap

  Flower head platform

  the base has papery scales on it

  Flower head platform surface

  the scales are slightly hairy, at least near the top

  Flower type in flower heads

  the flower head has tubular disk flowers in the center and ray flowers, these often strap-shaped, around the periphery

  Inflorescence branching (Solidago)

  NA

  Inflorescence shape

  the inflorescence is flat-topped in profile

  Number of bracts at flower head base

  8–15

  Ovary attachment

  the ovary is attached at the side near the base, rather than at the base

  Ovary cross-section

  the ovary is compressed (flattened)

  Ovary hairs

  the ovary has no hairs on it

  Ray flower color

  • orange
  • yellow

  Ray flower reproductive parts

  there are neither carpels nor stamens in the ray flowers

  Ray flowers

  • 11-15
  • 6-10

  Ray length

  20–45 mm

• Fruits or seeds

  Number of pappus parts

  1

  Ovary length in developed fruit

  3.5–6 mm

  Seed hair tuft bases

  NA

  Seed hair tuft color

  NA

  Seed hair tuft details

  NA

  Seed hair tuft length

  0.1–1.5 mm

  Seed hair tuft tips

  NA

  Seed hairs uniform

  NA

  Seed tuft scale number

  0

  Seed tuft type

  the pappus is made of a circle or rim of lobes or teeth on the ovary

  Top of disk flower ovary

  NA

  Tuft or plume on fruit

  there is no plume, or the plume is made up of scales, awns, a crown, or a rim

• Glands or sap

  Leaf blade glands

  the leaf blades have no glandular (translucent) dots or scales

  Sap

  the sap is clear and watery

• Growth form

  Growth form

  the plant has one or more free-standing stems

  Plant lifespan

  the plant is perennial, it shows evidence of previous year's leaves, stems or stem bases

  Spines on plant

  the plant has no spines

  Underground organs

  the plant has a rhizome (a horizontal underground stem with roots growing from it)

• Leaves

  Hairs on underside of leaf blade

  • the underside of the leaf is fuzzy or hairy
  • the underside of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Hairs on upper side of leaf blade

  • the upper side of the leaf is fuzzy or hairy
  • the upper side of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Leaf arrangement

  alternate: there is one leaf per node along the stem

  Leaf blade base

  • the leaf has a distinct petiole
  • the leaf has no petiole

  Leaf blade base shape

  • the base of the leaf blade is cuneate (wedge-shaped, tapers to the base with relatively straight, converging edges), or narrow
  • the base of the leaf blade is rounded

  Leaf blade bloom

  the underside of the leaf has no noticeable bloom

  Leaf blade edges

  • the edge of the leaf blade has lobes, or it has both teeth and lobes
  • the edge of the leaf blade has no teeth or lobes
  • the edge of the leaf blade has teeth

  Leaf blade length

  150–400 mm

  Leaf blade shape

  • the leaf blade is lanceolate (lance-shaped; widest below the middle and tapering at both ends)
  • the leaf blade is ovate (widest below the middle and broadly tapering at both ends)

  Leaf blade surface colors

  there is no noticeable color variation on the upper surface of the leaf

  Leaf blade tip

  • the tip of the leaf blade is acuminate (tapers to a long, thin point)
  • the tip of the leaf blade is acute (sharply pointed)

  Leaf blade width

  100–250 mm

  Leaf disposition

  the leaves are nearly similar in size, prominence of teeth, and length of stalks throughout the stem

  Leaf spines

  there are no spines on the leaf edges

  Leaf stalk

  • the leaves have leaf stalks
  • the leaves have no leaf stalks, but attach directly to the stem

  Leaf stalk length

  At least 0 mm

  Leaf tip extension

  NA

  Leaf type

  • leaves are compound (made up of two or more discrete leaflets)
  • leaves are simple (lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets)

  Leaflet number

  0

  Specific leaf type

  • the leaf has a row of two or more lobes on each side of the central axis
  • the leaf has a row of two or more lobes on each side of the central axis, and each lobe itself has rows of lobes on each side of the lobe's central axis

• Place

  Habitat

  • terrestrial
  • wetlands

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Maine
  • Massachusetts
  • New Hampshire
  • Rhode Island
  • Vermont

  Specific habitat

  • edges of wetlands
  • forests
  • river or stream floodplains
  • shores of rivers or lakes
  • swamps

• Scent

  Plant odor

  the plant does not have much of an odor

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Flowering stem cross-section

  the flowering stem is circular, or with lots of small angles

  Leaves on stem

  there is at least one full leaf above the base of the flowering stem

  Stem bloom

  • the stem has a powdery or waxy film on it that can be rubbed away
  • there is no powdery or waxy film on the stem

  Stem internode hair direction

  NA

  Stem internode hair length

  0 mm

  Stem internode hair type

  the stem has no hairs between the nodes

  Stem internode hairs

  the stem has no hairs between the nodes

  Stem wings

  the stem does not have wings on it

Wetland status

Usually occurs in wetlands, but occasionally in non-wetlands. (Wetland indicator code: FACW)

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae