Upright Prairie Coneflower
Ratibida columnifera
In the Carolinas and Georgia, found in prairies, eastwards in dry disturbed areas, established around nurseries or plantings, waste areas near wool-combing mills. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Louisiana (estimated). How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 94%
- Height
- 1–3 feet
- Spread
- 1–1.5 feet
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry to average
Space about 1 ft apart from its recorded spread, about 100 per 100 sq ft. Enter your bed size for a count
Will it fit your yard?No photograph yet. Looking for an old drawing…
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- Mid summer
- Fruiting season
- Summer to fall
Not yet recorded · Leaves
Recorded in 9 Louisiana parishes.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Open, grass-dominated places kept open by fire, grazing or thin soil, from tallgrass prairie to Piedmont prairies.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Who uses this plant?
3CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including LA
Genus host records with ranges including LA · Ratibida
- Homoeosoma electellaSunflower Moth
- Papaipema nebrisStalk Borer
- Epiblema iowana
19BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Ratibida
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
11Specialist beesPollen specialists
Pollen specialists · Ratibida
- Andrena rudbeckiae
- Andrena runcinatae
- Andrena sitiliae
- Colletes birkmanni
- Colletes rufocinctus
- Diadasia enavata
- Megachile parallela
- Melissodes subillatus
- Melissodes trinodis
- Melissodes wheeleri
Show all 11
- Protandrena albitarsis
1BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Ratibida
- Ortalis vetulaPlain Chachalaca
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 4a–9b
- Flower color
- Brown/copper or yellow
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth habit
- Single crown
- Foliage color
- Green
- Fruit begins
- Summer
- Fruit ends
- Fall
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “Mid summer” · USDA PLANTS (ranked first; Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differs) · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Flower color · “Brown/copper or yellow” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; USDA PLANTS, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ)
- Foliage color · “Green” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit begins · “Summer” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit ends · “Fall” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth habit · “Single crown” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth rate · “Moderate” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Hardiness · “Zones 4a–9b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder differs)
- Height · “1–3 feet” · Tennessee Smart Yards (ranked first; USDA PLANTS, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ) · Published Tennessee growing guidance; exact cached scientific heading
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Minnesota Wildflowers
- Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Tennessee Smart Yards, Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ)
- Soil · “medium to dry” · Tennessee Smart Yards (ranked first; Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ) · Published Tennessee growing guidance; exact cached scientific heading
- Spread · “1–1.5 feet” · Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder
Also known as
Columnar Prairie Coneflower
Conservation status
| Louisiana rank | SNR |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| LA status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Growing cautions
- Spreads slowly. Spreads slowly by re-seeding. Tennessee Smart Yards
For planning only; these do not change the score or Fit.
Sources
- USDA PLANTS
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025)
- Louisiana occurrence source
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications