(A) Robin’s Plantain (Erigeron pulchellus) is one of the earliest members of the Composite Family to bloom. In fact, it is often known as the “Blue Spring Daisy,” a name which is very appropriate for it, much more so than the one it commonly bears. The very fuzzy, light green, juicy stalk attains heights of from 10 to 24 inches. Most of the leaves are in a dense rosette at the base of the stalk; they are spatulate in shape, indistinctly toothed and hairy throughout. From one to nine flowers, an inch, or slightly more, broad are grouped at the top of the stem. It is common everywhere, blooming in May and June.
(B) Purple Cone Flower (Brauneria purpurea) is a showy western species bearing a single, large flower-head with a conical centre of purple disc florets and surrounded by many large, notched, magenta rays. The stiff, hairy stem rises 2 to 3 feet high. The leaves, also stiff-hairy, alternate along it; the upper ones are toothless and seated on the stem, while the lower ones are sharply toothed; they are five-ribbed and deep green in color. Rich soil, N. Y. to Mich. and southward.
Black-eyed Susan; Yellow Daisy; Cone-flower (Rudbeckia hirta) is a beautiful, large-flowered, tough-stemmed species that is commonly found in dry fields and pastures throughout the East, although it is, by nativity, a western species.
The stem is hairy, rough, very tough, and grows from 1 to 3 feet in height. Single, large flowers are borne at the summit of each stem.
The involucre is composed of two rows of leaf-like bracts that spread as the flower opens, the outer ones extending almost as widely as the rays. The conical, dark purple centre is composed of long, tubular florets that ripen in successive circles about the cone, making a fringe of yellow pollen on its surface. The orange-yellow rays are neutral, with neither stamens nor pistils.
The leaves, scattered alternately along the stem, are stiff and hairy. The upper ones are lanceolate and seated on the stem, the lower ones are broader toward the tip, rather spatulate shaped.
Tall Cone-flower (Rudbeckia laciniata) is a tall, lanky member of this genus, with an entirely different temperament from that of the Black-eyed Susan. No hot, sandy, or dusty fields for this, but the cool depths of moist thickets. As usual with vegetation in moist, rich soil, its growth is luxuriant. The smooth, branching stem ascends to heights of 3 to 10 feet and is leafy throughout. Ordinarily, the plant does not grow more than 5 feet in height; those that exceed this height might be termed giants of the species. The lower leaves are very large, are on long petioles and are cleft into five or seven divisions; the lower and middle stem leaves are usually three-parted while the upper ones, or at least the ones nearest the flowers, are small and elliptical.