Cut-leaf Coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata): yellow Minnesota wildflowers

Cut-leaf Coneflower

Plant Info
Also known as:	Green-headed Coneflower, Tall Coneflower, Golden Glow
Scientific name:	Rudbeckia laciniata
Family:	Aster (Asteraceae)
Life cycle:	perennial
Origin:	native
Habitat:	sun, part shade; moist fields and woods, along shores
Bloom season:	summer, early fall
Plant height:	2 to 10 feet
USDA PLANTS database:	Minnesota county distribution map

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Flower:: Flowers are 2 to 3 inches across with 6 to 12 droopy yellow petals (ray flowers). The center is initially a rounded green cone; when the tubular disk flowers bloom it takes on a bulbous shape. One plant usually has several flowers, each at the end of a stem that branches out at the top of the plant.
Leaves:: Leaves on the lower part of the plant are large, to 10 inches long and wide, deeply lobed in 3 to 7 segments, coarsely toothed, on stems up to 4 inches long. The leaves become smaller as they ascend the stem and those on the upper part of the plant are toothed but unlobed. Attachment is alternate.
Notes:: The shape of the flower center is similar to Sneezeweed, but the rest of the flower is different enough to avoid confusing them. The leaves and stem are also very different between the two plants. Gray-headed Coneflower also has large lobed leaves, but the lobes are much more narrow. The cone of Gray-headed Coneflower is also quite different.

Photos taken at Fort Snelling State Park, St Paul, MN, August-September 2007

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