Ratibida pinnata (Gray-headed Coneflower): Minnesota Wildflowers

Ratibida pinnata (Gray-headed Coneflower)

Plant Info
Also known as:	Pinnate Prairie Coneflower, Yellow Coneflower
Genus:	Ratibida
Family:	Asteraceae (Aster)
Life cycle:	perennial
Origin:	native
Habitat:	sun; fields, prairies, along roads
Bloom season:	June - August
Plant height:	3 to 7 feet
USDA PLANTS database:	Minnesota county distribution map
Spotted in Ramsey County at:	Battle Creek Regional Park Long Lake Regional Park Rice Creek Trail Corridor Vadnais/Snail Lake Regional Park

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Detailed Information

Flower:

Up to 15 droopy yellow petals, each about 2 inches long, surround a thimble-shaped cone ½ to ¾ inches tall. The cone is gray or greenish and turns brown, flowering from the bottom up. One plant has from 10 to 25 flowers, each at the end of a long stem.

Leaves and stem:

Leaves near the base of the plant are up to 8 inches long and 5 inches across, deeply divided into 3 to 7 narrow lobes, on fairly long stems. Lobes may be further divided, or coarsely toothed. The leaves on the upper part of the plant are usually small, unlobed, stalkless, and few in number. Leaves feel rough from short stiff hairs. The stem is ridged and hairy.

Notes:

I sometimes think that if you've seen one coneflower, you've seen them all, but each species is indeed unique. Gray-headed Coneflower is a much taller plant than Prairie Coneflower, blooms later, and has much larger leaves. Cut-leaf Coneflower is also a tall plant with lobed leaves, but it has a more bulbuous cone and the leaf lobes are broad.

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More photos

Photos taken at Long Lake Regional Park, New Brighton, MN, July 2006 and 2007

Comments

Have you seen this plant in Minnesota, or have any other comments about it?

Posted by: Mary in Stearns County
on: 2008-06-08 17:49:08

I took a picture of the gray-headed coneflower at Quarry Park in Stearns County late last fall. I knew it was a cone flower but now I know it is a gray-headed coneflower.

Posted by: Skip in Breezy Point, Pelican Lake
on: 2010-06-12 08:49:21

I have a large Wildflower garden on our septic drain field. The deer seem to love the gray headed coneflower. They are leaving everything else alone. Im wondering if others have had this problem......Skip

Posted by: Mark in Oakdale Nature Preserve, Oakdale MN
on: 2010-07-26 18:09:15

A single plant, on the slope between the trails near their intersection south of the Discovery Center, blooming the last week in July 2010.

Posted by: Barb in rural New York Mills
on: 2011-07-18 19:46:52

We have acres of prairie that my husband planted several years ago-have gray-headed coneflowers, purple prairie clover, purple coneflowers, Rudbeckia,big blue stem and other grasses-beautiful!

Posted by: IW in Stearns County
on: 2011-09-30 08:48:22

I took a picture of the gray-headed coneflower at Quarry Park in Stearns County late last fall. I knew it was a cone flower but now I know it is a gray-headed coneflower. then i burned it.