Western Coneflower

West Coast Mountain Flowers Types of Daisies Mountain Flowers Flower Power

The twenty two species of the genus Rudbeckia (Asteraceae family), better known as coneflowers, that grow in the United States, are easily identified by their over sized, conical seed heads.

The Western coneflower (Rudbeckia occidentalis), pictured above, grows in mountain meadows across the Western United States.

While the majority of Rudbeckia species have yellow petals set against brown to black cones, the Western Coneflower is distinguished by the purple cone set against green sepals.

Echinacea, another Asteraceae genus, are known as the purple coneflowers. Botanists have produced hybridized Echinacea varieties for garden use that come in a variety of petal colors.

© 2008 Patricia A. Michaels.