Rudbeckia occidentalis

Western cone-flower

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Native

Western cone-flower is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, and northern Sierra Nevada at elevations of 1,200 to 2,800 meters in meadows and seeps. Flowering from June to August, this plant produces distinctive discoid flower heads with dark brown-purple disk flowers lacking ray petals. Growing with stout stems 60 to 200 centimeters tall, it develops simple or few-branched stems that are slightly glaucous and nearly smooth. Its leaves range 12 to 30 centimeters long, with elliptic to widely ovate blades that are coarsely serrate or nearly smooth-edged, typically glabrous or with short hairs. The plant's dark purple paleae and unusual diskoid flower structure make it a unique member of its genus.

Habitat: Meadows, seeps

Bloom period: Jun-Aug

Elevation: 1200-2800 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoRH, n SNH

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