Prairie coneflower is a herbaceous perennial native to North America from southern Canada to northern Mexico where it grows in a variety of habitats such as prairies, plains, roadsides, and disturbed areas. It is a member of the aster family, Asteraceae, that also includes daisy, yarrow, and lettuce. Plants grow 6-60″ tall and have one to many erect branched stems with basal and/or cauline leaves that are linear to oblong, and pinnately lobed to pinnatified. Flowerheads are borne singly or in loose clusters and consist of 50-400+ yellowish green to purplish disc florets surrounded by 3-15+ (sometimes none) yellow, maroon or bicolored ray florets.
Plants grow best in full sun in average, dry to moderately moist, well-drained soil. Plants are drought resistant, and generally free from serious pests or diseases. Propagation is by seed. The flowerheads are attractive to pollinators including butterflies and the seeds are attractive to birds. Plants may be vigorous and crowd out less rambunctious plants.
The derivation of the genus name, Ratibida, is unknown.
Photo Credit: HarmonyonPlanetEarth, Wikimedia Commons
The environmental conditions in New England have resulted in at least one species of prairie coneflower native to New England but it is also native to other regions of the US. The prairie coneflower described here is native to at least 1 state in New England (Massachusetts).
Upright Prairie Coneflower (Ratibida columnifera)
Hairy, green stems with occasional branching carry hairy leaves that are up to 6″ long, mostly at the base, and are deeply pinnate with 5-11 lobes. The single, terminal flowerheads consist of a long center cone up to 2″ long of purplish disk florets surrounded by 3-12 drooping yellow to rust red ray florets.
Alternate/s Names: Mexican Hat, red-spike Mexican hat, prairie coneflower, long-headed coneflower, thimbleflower, obelisk flower
Native Range: Massachusetts as well as places on the Pacific Coast, and in the Rocky Mountain area, Southwest, Midwest, Southeast, and Mid Atlantic.
Habitat: Prairies, plains, pastures, meadows, savannahs, disturbed sites
Type: Perennial or biennial
Height: 1-3′
Bloom Time: Late spring to ealy fall
Bloom Color: Rust-red, yellow
Light: Full sun; tolerates some shade
Soil: Average, dry to medium moist, well-drained; tolerates drought and poor soil
USDA Hardiness Zones: 4-9
Photo Credit: Wikipedia
The New England area includes Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. The area offers diverse geography with rivers, lakes, forests, mountains, and coast lines on both the Atlantic Ocean and Long Island Sound. It has four distinct seasons that provide environmental conditions for at least one native prairie coneflower. The winters are long, cold, and heavy snow is common from December to February. Summer is short with temperatures between 80 and 85 F. Precipitation averages about 45″ as rain and 60-90″ as snow.