Blackeyed Susan
Rudbeckia hirta var. pulcherrima
Found in roadsides, fields. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 88%
- Height
- Up to about 3 feet
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry to moist
No photograph yet. Looking for an old drawing…
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Annual, biennial or perennial
- Bloom
- May to July
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 99 Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Who uses this plant?
21CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA
Genus host records with ranges including VA · Rudbeckia
- Chlosyne nycteisSilvery Checkerspot
- Acharia stimuleaSaddleback Caterpillar Moth
- Adaina ambrosiaeAmbrosia Plume Moth, Ragweed Plume Moth
- Archips griseaGray Archips
- Chlorochlamys chloroleucariaBlackberry Looper Moth
- Epiblema carolinanaGray-Blotched Epiblema
- Epiblema tripartitanaThree-Parted Epiblema
- Eupithecia miserulataCommon Eupithacia, Common Pug
- Homoeosoma electellaSunflower Moth
- Lithophane unimodaDowdy Pinion
Show all 21
- Orthotaenia undulanaDusky Leafroller
- Papaipema cataphractaBurdock Border, Potato-Stalk Borer
- Papaipema nebrisStalk Borer
- Papaipema nelitaConeflower Borer
- Papaipema unimodaMeadow Rue Borer, Chain Fern Border Moth
- Phtheochroa birdanaBird's Cochylid
- Synchlora aerataWavy-Lined Emerald, Camouflaged Looper
- Synchlora frondariaSouthern Emerald
- Vanessa carduiPainted Lady, Cosmopolite
- Epiblema tandana
- Paralobesia rhoifructana
56BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Rudbeckia
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
25Specialist beesPollen specialists
Pollen specialists · Rudbeckia
- Andrena aliciae
- Andrena asteris
- Andrena rudbeckiae
- Diadasia enavata
- Dieunomia bolliana
- Dieunomia heteropoda
- Megachile inimica
- Megachile parallela
- Megachile pugnata
- Megachile xylocopoides
Show all 25
- Melissodes bidentis
- Melissodes boltoniae
- Melissodes coreopsis
- Melissodes denticulatus
- Melissodes dentiventris
- Melissodes desponsus
- Melissodes druriellus
- Melissodes illatus
- Melissodes subillatus
- Melissodes trinodis
- Melissodes wheeleri
- Paranthidium jugatorium
- Perdita octomaculata
- Protandrena albitarsis
- Protandrena andrenoides
—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claimNo records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Flower color
- Yellow
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “May to July” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Yellow” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Height · “Up to about 3 feet” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Life cycle · “Annual, biennial or perennial” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Light · “Full sun (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- primary_flower_color · “yellow” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Soil · “Dry; Moist (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
Conservation status
| Virginia rank | S5 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5T5 |
| VA 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.
Sources
- Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- NatureServe Explorer
- 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