Kendall County (IL) Forest Preserve District
Black-Eyed Susan
Rudbeckia hirta [C-value
1]
Aster family (Asteraceae)
Blooms August -
September
The native Black-Eyed Susan is common in our area. It prefers full sun and slightly moist to slightly dry soil conditions. Its natural habitats include prairies and savannas. This biennial (or short-lived perennial) is about 1-2½' tall, occasionally branching near the base, with each hairy stem producing a single bright yellow flower. The alternate leaves (up to 7" long and 2" across) are grayish green and covered with small stiff hairs. The upper stems are long and devoid of leaves, each producing a single composite flower (2-3" across) consisting of many dark brown disk florets, forming a flattened cone, surrounded by 8-20 bright yellow ray florets. The fertile flowers later develop dark brown or black oblong seed heads.
Black-Eyed Susan at Richard Young Forest Preserve August 22, 2015
Black-Eyed Susan foliage at Richard Young Forest Preserve August 22, 2015
Black-Eyed Susan seed heads at Oswego-Montgomery library October 26, 2014
Black-Eyed Susan is more native to Colorado and Wyoming but has been moving east since the pioneers came and plowed under the native grasses.
Its name comes from the 1720 poem by John Cay:
All in the dawn the fleet was moor’d
The streamers waving in the wind
When Black-eyed Susan came on board
Oh where shall I my true love find?
Tell me, ye jovial sailors, tell me true
If my Sweet William, if my Sweet William
Sails among you crew?
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