Native Focus: Western Coneflower, Rudbeckia occidentalis, is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common name western coneflower. It is native to the northwestern United States from northern California to Wyoming and Montana, where it grows in moist habitat types, such as meadows.
It is an erect perennial herb growing from a thick rhizome, its mostly unbranched stem approaching two meters in maximum height. The large leaves are generally oval but pointed, and lightly to deeply toothed along the edges, growing to 30 centimeters long. The inflorescence is one or more flower heads with purplish bases up to 6 centimeters wide. There are no ray florets, just an array of reflexed phyllaries around the purple-brown center packed with disc florets. This center, containing the receptacles, lengthens to several centimeters in length as the fruits develop. The fruits are achenes each a few millimeters long, some tipped with pappi of tiny scales.
An excellent food source for birds! Available from the CSR Nursery and also in seed packets.
Filed under: Native Focus, Nursery Tagged: | native plants, seeds
I have about 400 of these to keep the birds coming back and save on bird seed I need to buy. The birds will eat these in the winter until they are gone. I also have a large stand of purple coneflower next to them that do the same thinng. The purple coneflower have been coming back for 17 years now. I think they will grow forever. I hope so.