Rudbeckia
(named in honour of Olaf Rudbec, Professor of Botany at Upsal). Cone Flower. Including Centrocarpha, Dracopis, Helichroa, Lepachys, Obeliscaria and Ratibida. ORD. Compositae. A genus comprising about twenty-five species of greenhouse or hardy, slightly branched, perennial herbs, natives of North America. Flower-heads purplish, violet, or pale (sometimes with the ray, and rarely the disk, yellow), large or mediocre, solitary or few, on long peduncles; involucre hemispherical, the bracts in two, three, or four series; receptacle much elevated, conical or columnar; ray florets ligulate, spreading, often elongated, entire or with two or three short teeth at the apex; achenes glabrous. Leaves alternate or rarely opposite, entire, toothed, incised, or pinnatisect. The under-mentioned species are all hardy, and will thrive in any ordinary garden soil Increased by divisions, or by seeds. R. maxima and R. speciosa are two of the most attractive of hardy perennials for mixed borders and massing.
R. columnaris (columnar). fl.-heads, ray florets yellow, or sometimes yellowish-red, elongated, dependent, bidentate at apex. September. l. pinnatisect; segments linear-lanceolate, acute, entire, the terminal one almost equalling the rest. h. 3ft. 1811. (B. M. 1601.) R. fulgida (brilliant). fl.-heads, ray florets orange-yellow, about twelve, equalling or exceeding the involucre; disk dark purple, the chaff nearly smooth. July. l. spathulate-oblong or lanceolate, partly stem-clasping, triple-nerved, the upper ones entire, mostly obtuse. h. 1ft. to 3ft. 1760. Plant hairy. (B. M. 1996.) R. grandiflora (large-flowered).* fl.-heads, ray florets yellow 2in. long, dependent; disk dark purple, convex. September. l. petiolate, acute, attenuated at base, reticulate-veined; lower ones ovate, crenate-toothed; upper ones lanceolate, very scabrous, obsoletely crenate. Stem angular, branched. h. 3 1/2ft. 1830. (S. B. F. G. ser. ii. 87, under name of Centrocarpha grandiflora.) R. hirta (hairy). fl.-heads large, solitary; ray florets yellow, about fourteen, more or less exceeding the involucre; disk dull brown, the chaff hairy at the tip. June to August. l. nearly entire; upper ones oblong or lanceolate, sessile; lower ones spathulate, triple-nerved, sessile. Stems simple or branched near the base, 1ft. to 2ft. high. 1714. Plant very rough and bristly-hairy. (S. B. F. G. 82.) R. maxima (greatest).* fl.-heads solitary, on long peduncles; ray florets pure yellow, 2in. long, drooping; disk columnar, elongated. August. l. large, membranous, oval or oblong, slightly toothed or entire, feather-veined, the lower ones petiolate, the upper ones clasping; lowest ones 8in. to 12in. long. Stem 4ft. to 9ft. high. A handsome plant.
R. Newmanii (Newman's). A synonym of R. speciosa.
R. pallida (pale). This is the correct name of the plant described in this work as Echinacea angustifolia.
R. pinnata (pinnate-leaved).* fl.-heads, ray florets light yellow, large and drooping, much longer than the oblong disk; receptacle exhaling a pleasant, anisate odour when bruised. July. l. alternate, pinnate; leaflets three to seven, lanceolate, acute. h. 3ft. 1803.(B. M. 2310; S. E. B. 38.) SYN. Lepachys pinnata.
R. purpurea (purple).* This is the correct name of the plant described in this work as Echinacea purpurea.
R. speciosa (showy).* fl.-heads 2 1/2in. to 4in. across; ray florets orange-coloured, contrasting well with the black-purple disk. Summer. l., lowest ones ovate, strongly ribbed, coarsely toothed, borne on slender stalks 6in. to 9in. long; succeeding ones gradually becoming narrower; uppermost ones sessile. Stems freely branched below. h. 2ft. to 3ft. A fine plant. (G. C. n. s., xvi. 373.) SYN. R. Newmanii.
R. triloba (three-lobed). fl.-heads small, but numerous and showy; ray florets eight, yellow, 3/4in. long; disk blackish-purple. August. l., upper ones ovate-lanceolate, sparingly toothed, the lower ones three-lobed, tapering at the base, coarsely serrate; those from the root pinnately parted or undivided. h. 2ft. to 5ft. 1699. Plant hairy, much-branched. (B. R. 525.)