Orange coneflower

Rudbeckia fulgida Aiton (Asteraceae), the orange coneflower, is a clumping rhizomatous perennial herb 40-100 cm tall, native to deciduous woodland edges, moist meadows and stream banks of the eastern United States from New York and Michigan south to Georgia and Alabama. Stems are erect, often branched above and roughly hairy. The basal leaves are long-petioled, ovate to lanceolate, 5-15 cm long, with three to five conspicuous veins and an acute apex; upper stem leaves are smaller, sessile and more lanceolate. Inflorescences are showy terminal heads 5-8 cm across, each with 8-15 deep orange-yellow ray florets surrounding a dark purplish-brown to nearly black hemispheric disc 1-2 cm wide. The involucral phyllaries are leafy and reflexed. The fruits are slender four-angled glabrous achenes about 3 mm long with a short crown-like pappus. Several varieties are recognized, and the cultivar 'Goldsturm' is widely grown in gardens.