Prairie or marsh coneflower

Rudbeckia palustris Eggert ex C. L. Boynton & Beadle, Biltmore Bot. Stud. 1: 16. 1901

Stems glabrous or sparsely hairy (hairs antrorse to spreading). Leaves: basal blades lanceolate to narrowly elliptic to ovate, 2–4 cm wide, lengths to 2 times widths, bases cuneate, margins entire or serrate, faces glabrous or sparsely hairy; cauline petiolate (proximal) or sessile (distal), blades lanceolate to ovate, notably smaller distally, bases attenuate to subauriculate (distal), margins entire or serrate, faces sparsely to moderately hairy. Phyllaries reflexed, 0.8–2.2 × 0.2–0.5 cm, pilose (abaxially) or glabrous (adaxially). Receptacles 11–18 mm diam.; palea margins ciliate, faces glabrous. Ray florets 8–14; laminae 15–25 mm. 2n = 38.

Flowering summer–fall. Mesic to wet sites; 50–600 m; Ark., Mo., Okla., Tex.