Plants are listed by common name
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Black-eyed Susans are familiar to gardeners. Wild plants found in Anderson Priairie are rarely as tall and abundant as the beautiful masses populating our perennial gardens, though. In fact, some similar plants are also referred to as black-eyed Susans. Orange coneflower, or (Rudbeckia fulgida), is a common substitute. Orange coneflower is also a native flower which has adapted well to cultivation. Look for both at local plant nurseries. Look for black-eyed Susans along the wildflower trail in late June. |
Black-eyed Susans are short-lived. Their job is to quickly colonize and fill in areas disturbed by grazing, burrowing, wallowing or trampling by wildlife such as bison, elk, badger and others. Quick growing plants of the prairie stabilize the soil in these areas and hold down the fort until the slow-growing and longer-lived prairie plants can become established. The process by which slow-growing (conservative) species take over from fast-growing and weedier species is known as "succession." |
| Sweet black-eyed Susan, also called fragrant coneflower, is the taller, bushier cousin of the common black-eyed Susan. This Rudbeckia flowers later in the summer at a time when the prairie grasses have started to take over the landscape. |
Perhaps that is why it must grow so tall. Another relative, Rudbeckia triloba, is found in shady woodland edge habitats in Anderson Prairie. It is commonly known as brown-eyed Susan. |