Green-Headed Coneflower Rudbeckia laciniata is a Michigan Native plant available at Wild Cherry Farm
Green-Headed Coneflower Rudbeckia laciniata is a Michigan Native plant available at Wild Cherry Farm

Green-Headed Coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata)

$5.00

Green-headed Coneflower has a very high value to pollinators. It is visited by numerous native bees, and moths (iillinoiswildflowers.info) and it is the host plant to a whopping 30 different specialist bees (Holm, 2017) (Johnson and Colla, 2023)!! Green-headed Coneflower is recommended as a preferred pollinator plant by the Xerces Society (Xerces.org) and it is a host plant for the Silvery Checkerspot and 19 other species of butterflies and moths in our area (nwf.org), including the threatened Gorgone checkerspot (mnfi.anr.msu.edu). Green-headed Coneflower is rhizomatous and can be aggressive, so choose your planting spot wisely.

Photo credit: USDA NRCS Montana

Green-headed Coneflower has a very high value to pollinators. It is visited by numerous native bees, and moths (iillinoiswildflowers.info) and it is the host plant to a whopping 30 different specialist bees (Holm, 2017) (Johnson and Colla, 2023)!! Green-headed Coneflower is recommended as a preferred pollinator plant by the Xerces Society (Xerces.org) and it is a host plant for the Silvery Checkerspot and 19 other species of butterflies and moths in our area (nwf.org), including the threatened Gorgone checkerspot (mnfi.anr.msu.edu). Green-headed Coneflower is rhizomatous and can be aggressive, so choose your planting spot wisely.

Photo credit: USDA NRCS Montana

Life Cycle: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full-Partial-Shade

Soil Moisture: Medium/wet-Medium/dry

Height: 3-7 feet

Plant Spacing: 2-4 feet

Bloom Time: July-October

Bloom Color: Yellow

Advantages: Caterpillar Favorite, Pollinator Favorite, Bird Favorite, Deer Resistant, Recommended but vigorous

Host Plant: Silvery Checkerspot and 19 other species of butterflies and moths use this as a caterpillar host plant in our area (nwf.org)

Specialist Bee: Andrena rudbeckiae, Perdita albipennis, Pseudopanurgus albitarsis, P. andrenoides, P. compositarum, P. labrosiformis, P. labrosus, P. rugosus, P. solidaginis, Melissodes denticulatus, M. agilis, M. bidentis, M. boltoniae, M. coloradensis, M. confuses, M. druriellus, M. illatus, M. microstictus, M. subillatus, M. trinodis, M. vernoniae, M. wheeleri, Svastra obliqua, S. petulca, Paranthidium jugatorium, Megachile pugnata, M. inimica, M. parallela, M. xylocopoides, Colletes americanus, and C. compactus (Holm, 2017) (Johnson and Colla, 2023)

Beneficial for Endangered or Threatened Species: Possibly Gorgone checkerspot (Chlosyne gorgone) (mnfi.anr.msu.edu/)

Resource: Holm, Heather. Bees: An Identification and Native Plant Forage Guide. Pollination Press LLC, 2017

Resource: Johnson, Lorraine, and Sheila Colla. A Northern Gardener’s Guide to Native Plants and Pollinators: Creating Habitat in the Northeast, Great Lakes, and Upper Midwest. Island Press, 2023

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