| Rudbeckia californica | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Meadow of Rudbeckia californica flowers | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Asterales |
| Family: | Asteraceae |
| Tribe: | Heliantheae |
| Genus: | Rudbeckia |
| Species: | R. californica |
| Binomial name | |
| Rudbeckia californica | |
Rudbeckia californica is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, known by the common name California coneflower. [1]
It is native to California, where it grows in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.). It occurs in moist habitats, such as mountain meadows and streambanks.
It is an erect perennial herb growing from a thick rhizome, its stem exceeding one meter in maximum height and sometimes approaching two meters. It usually has no branches.
Most of the large leaves are basal, with a few alternately arranged along the stem. The leaves can be up to 30 centimeters long and are lance-shaped to oval, smooth-edged or lobed.
The inflorescence is a usually solitary sunflower-like flower head with a base up to 6 centimeters wide lined with several ray florets, each of which are 2 to 6 centimeters long. The yellow ray florets extend outwards and then become reflexed, pointing back along the stem. The disc florets filling the button-shaped to conical to cylindrical center of the head are greenish yellow.
The fruits are achenes each about half a centimeter long tipped with a pappus of scales.
One variety of this species, var. intermedia, is now generally treated as a species in its own right named Rudbeckia klamathensis , the Klamath coneflower. [2] [3] Another variety, var. glauca, is now treated as a species Rudbeckia glaucescens , waxy coneflower, by the same references.
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