Rudbeckia californica

California cone-flower

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Native

California cone-flower is a California native perennial found in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in meadows and seeps at elevations of 800 to 2,600 meters. Flowering from July to August, this plant produces yellow ray flowers 2 to 6 centimeters long with green-yellow disk flowers, forming large radiant flower heads. Growing 60 to 180 centimeters tall with stout unbranched stems, the plant emerges from a robust rhizome. Its leaves range from 10 to 60 centimeters long, with lanceolate to ovate blades that are entire, coarsely toothed, or pinnately lobed, and have a distinctly hairy undersurface. The flower heads feature 8 to 21 ray flowers that are often reflexed, creating a distinctive drooping appearance.

Habitat: Meadows, seeps, mires

Bloom period: Jul-Aug

Elevation: 800-2600 m

Bioregions: SNH.

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.