BACK to Plant Index

Black-eyed Susan
(Rudbeckia hirta)

Pronounced "rood-BEK-ia"

A native plant.

 

As you can see, this flower is used by butterflies as a nectar plant.
The leaves you see in this photo belong to a forsythia, NOT to the black-eyed susan

 

 

 

 

 

The leaves of the black-eyed susan are very hairy. Be a word detective and guess what "hirta" means here. A fellow with a beard might be described as a "very hirsute fellow". Clues are everywhere!

 

The photo above was taken with a digital camera
through one of the artroom microscopes! It is a sepal tip.

 

The black-eyed susan is an annual or biennial plant.
That means it has to be planted by seed each year and it blooms that year (annually), or it spends one year being a clump of leaves followed by blooming the second year ("bi" means two, so the word biennial should clue you in to what's happening, although I wish they spelled it biannual instead of biennial.)

What's wrong with this picture!?

This is a side view of the unusual flower head exhibiting fasciation (fascinating, isn't it?!).

Botanists aren't sure why it happens.

to large, full screen image of"siamese twin" flower seen from above with normal flowers to compare with it. You can see the tiny forets sticking out around the edge of the cone more easily in the big image.

And this is a picture of a crab spider hoping I am some tasty morsel about to land.

 

Look closely and you can spot which of the tiny flowers that make up the center of the Black-eyed Susan is blooming. The immature flowers are flat and smooth, tightly closed in the center.

The blooming flowers have stuff sticking out their tops. The "stuff" is the stigma and anthers. Anthers make the pollen. Pollen that lands on a stigma goes down a tube and makes a seed when it gets to the flower's egg down at the bottom. Cool, huh!?

Insects move around pollen for some plants, while other plants count on the wind to move it. Some pollen is sticky....why do you think that might be?

 

The flowers along the outside edge that have a big petal are called the ray flowers.

 

The flowers in the center are called the disk flowers.
I think they actually do have a petal but it is very, very tiny.

Study pointers:

• Insects move around pollen for some plants, while other plants count on the wind to move it. Some pollen is sticky....why do you think that might be?
  
• Do a search on Yahooligans for pollen...see what you turn up.
  
• Did you know most of the kinds of bees in the world do not make honey. They feed their young "bee bread" made of pollen and other things mushed together. These "Pollen Bees" as they are called are fascinating animals. Many farmers attract them with special houses because they are hard workers and you need many fewer pollen bees to do a job compared to honey bees. In general they have mild stings. Some are blue. One is called a Hairy Foot!
  

to Schoolyard Habitat Index to Waddell School Introduction Page to What's New! at the school

This site designed and maintained by Emma Craib
who welcomes your
comments and suggestions !
E-MAIL