Rudbeckia fulgida
Hort. Kew. 3: 251. 1789.
Perennials, to 120 cm (stoloniferous, rosettes forming at stolon apices). Stems glabrous or moderately hirsute (branches spreading). Leaves: blades lanceolate to broadly ovate or elliptic (not lobed), herbaceous, bases attenuate to cordate, margins usually entire or serrate, sometimes lacerate, apices acute, faces glabrous or hirsute to strigose; basal petiolate, 5–30 × 1–8 cm; cauline petiolate, 2–25 × 0.5–7 cm, bases attenuate to cordate or auriculate. Heads borne singly or (2–7) in corymbiform arrays. Phyllaries to 2 cm. Receptacles hemispheric to ovoid; paleae 2.5–4 mm, (apical margins usually ciliate) apices obtuse to acute, abaxial tips usually glabrous. Ray florets 10–15; laminae elliptic to oblanceolate, 15–25 × 3–6 mm, abaxially strigose. Discs 12–16 × 10–18 mm. Disc florets 50–500+; corollas proximally yellowish green, brown-purple distally, 3–4.2 mm; style branches ca. 1.3 mm, apices rounded. Cypselae 2.2–4 mm; pappi coroniform, to 0.2 mm.
Distribution
e North America.
Discussion
Varieties 7 (7 in the flora).
Selected References
None.
Lower Taxa
Key
| 1 | Basal leaf blade lengths ± 3 times widths | Rudbeckia fulgida var. fulgida |
| 1 | Basal leaf blade lengths to 2 times widths | > 2 |
| 2 | Cauline leaves not notably smaller distally | > 3 |
| 2 | Cauline leaves notably smaller distally (except var. umbrosa) | > 4 |
| 3 | Stems densely villous-hirsute; basal leaf margins mostly coarsely crenate; cauline leaf margins sharply serrate (teeth remote); Illinois, Indiana, Ohio | Rudbeckia fulgida var. deamii |
| 3 | Stems glabrous or sparsely villous-hirsute; basal leaf margins entire or crenate; cauline leaf margins coarsely serrate to lacerate; ne United States | Rudbeckia fulgida var. speciosa |
| 4 | Ray laminae 25–40 mm; palea margins eciliate (Indiana, Michigan, Ohio) | Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii |
| 4 | Ray laminae 10–30 mm; palea margins ciliate | > 5 |
| 5 | Leaf bases (basal and proximal cauline) broadly rounded to cordate (Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia) | Rudbeckia fulgida var. umbrosa |
| 5 | Leaf bases (basal and proximal cauline) usually acute, attenuate, cuneate, or rounded | > 6 |
| 6 | Cauline leaf blades lanceolate to ovate; ray laminae 15–25+ mm; Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas | Rudbeckia fulgida var. palustris |
| 6 | Cauline leaf blades oblanceolate to broadly spatulate or pandurate; ray laminae 10–15 mm; Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia | Rudbeckia fulgida var. spathulata |