Rudbeckia truncata – another “Small” Coneflower

Rudbeckia truncata is a very rare coneflower (G2G3 rank – high to moderate risk of extinction), restricted to a small region of alkaline bluffs from Kentucky south into the Georgia mountains. Although named in 1898 by the late botanist J.K. Small, subsequent taxonomists, who obviously didn’t bother to grow the plant, incorrectly lumped it into the more common Rudbeckia fulgida. Each 2′ tall x 3′ wide, highly-branched specimen is clothed in narrow leaves, and topped, starting in mid-August with a show of golden orange coneflowers. We also don’t see the leaf spotting that’s so common on Rudbeckia fulgida. Our 2013 collection is from Hawkins County, Tennessee. We have found it to thrive in part to full sun, in very well-drained soils.