Unknown ecotype - grown from garden specimens, not collected in the wild
Duration: Perennial
Habit: Upright, clump-forming, coarse-textured
Size: Typically 3 to 6 feet tall; 2 to 3 feet wide
Flowering Time: July to September
Bloom Color: Yellow ray florets with dark brown to purple disk centers
Habitat: Open woodlands, dry to mesic prairies, clearings, thickets, roadsides
Moisture: Average to moist; must be well-drained
Light: Full sun to part sun, adaptable
Soils: Sandy, loamy, or rocky soils; tolerates clay if well-drained
Uses: Pollinator gardens, naturalized meadows, native borders, prairie restorations, late-summer color
Rudbeckia heliopsidis (Sunfacing coneflower)
Rudbeckia heliopsides is known as the pineywoods coneflower, or the sunfacing coneflower, the latter name referring to the belief that their golden daisy-like blooms follow the sun during the day. The sunfacing coneflower is a rarely cultivated perennial similar in many ways to its relatives, the orange coneflower (Rudbeckia fulgida) and brown-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia triloba). Rudbeckia heliopsidis grows to 2-4 feet tall, with broad and thick leaves, and sports big, branching collections of blooms with large purple-brown centers.
This species flowers midsummer into early fall, attracting small solitary native bees and small moths and fritillary butterflies. After flowering, the seed heads stay up through fall and provide an ample food source for songbirds such as the American goldfinch. Plants of the Rudbeckia family are host to many insects, including the bordered patch, gorgone checkerspot, and silvery checkerspot butterflies, and the wavy-lined emerald moth.
Rudbeckia heliopsidis is lightly rhizomatous in growth, and will form a colony if there's room for it to spread and reseed. It grows well in full sun as well as dappled part sun. It may tolerate drier soils in more shade, but more light means denser blooms. Moisture preference is well draining and medium to moist soils, which must be well draining.
Virginia is as far north as Rudbeckia heliopsidis spans, with natural populations having dwindled significantly. This species is imperiled in most states, with its vigor tied to factors such as fire and flooding creating viable habitat for populations to rebound against excessive competition. In places where fire is still utilized, this species seems to thrive.Homeowners can mimic this by keeping plant competition to a minimum, with annual mowing or chopping back of frost-killed growth in the winter, and removal of brush to keep the area open.