Easily the most statuesque flower in my gardens the bright yellow Daisy-like RUDBECKIA laciniata (aka- 'Green-Headed Cone Flower' or GHCF) shoots up to a very impressive and robust 10-12' in August. Each tall, swaying stem produces a single 4-5" blossom whose most unusual feature is a bright lime-green cone-shaped center.

The RUDBECKIA laciniata has a rich history beginning w/ Native Americans who used it's flower petals to make yellow and orange dyes. Various parts of the plants were cooked, dried or eaten raw and it's large underground rhizomes (roots) had many medicinal utilities. Interestingly, those rhizomes also produce and secrete chemicals which prevent the growth of competing plants- a process known as allelopathy.

In the image seen here (taken in the evening) I concentrated on showing the seed head at the center. Each seed head consists of 200 to 300 florets arranged in the form of a spiny cone. They start out as small green buttons and as the plant matures and the seeds ripen the cone elongates and produces little pockets - each filled w/ a brown seed. The seed head here is about half ripened. W/in another week or so seed production will be complete and the RUDBECKIA laciniata in my gardens will have completed another cycle.