Black Eyed Susan Seeds

Rudbeckia hirta

  These are flowering plants that can grow over three feet tall and have green leaves that are up to six inches long.  You will usually find these in open woods, fields, gardens and roadsides.  They like really all kinds of soils and grow quite well. Black Eyed Susan are biennial and in the first year they grow like a rosette, which is the first group of leaves growing from the center outward. In the second year the plant sends up a flower stalk and at the end of the second year the plant dies.  Butterflies, bees and other insects visit these flowers for their nectar.  They are also considered a Pioneer plant which means that they are one of the first plants to grow in a new field. 

 They are native to North America and one of the most popular wildflowers grown. They tend to blanket open fields, often surprising the passer-by with their golden-yellow beauty.

 Members of the sunflower family, the "black eye" is named for the dark brown-purple centers of its daisy-like flower heads. 

As the Butterflies, bees and other insects drink the nectar, they move pollen from one plant to another, causing it to grow fruits and seeds that can move about easily with the wind.

 These plants bloom from June to October. Note that they can be territorial in that they tend to squash out other flowers growing near them.