(Black Beauty Western Coneflower, Western Coneflower) Strange
looking but elegant and sophisticated at the same time, the
blackened flowers of the Black Beauty western coneflower also
have small petal-resembling green sepals (bud leaves). A
clumping herbaceous perennial native to the shortgrass prairies
and montane meadows of the American West, it attracts
butterflies and seed-eating songbrids. Growing from a rhizome
(underground stem), it appreciates moisture and usually grows in
acidic moist pockets or alongside streams. The lance-shaped
dark... James H. Schutte (Brown-eyed Susan, Thinleaf Coneflower)
The brown-eyed Susan is sister to the more common black-eyed
Susan except that its numerous yellow flowers are smaller, have
shorter petals and brown central eyes. It is tough, long-
blooming and much underused in the landscape. When the tall,
bushy plants bloom in summer they create a colorful cloud of
dark-eyed daisies. This short-lived perennial is native to a
vast expanse of the central and eastern United S