Wildflower (forb) · Asteraceae
Blackeyed Susan
Rudbeckia hirta · includes its varieties and subspecies
Blackeyed Susan is recorded as native to 44 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,685 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Blackeyed Susan at a glance
- Native in
- 1,685 counties, across 44 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 5a PLANTS minimum temperature −23°F
- Mature height
- 1 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Full sun (shade-intolerant) Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 5a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −23°F; zone 5a winters bottom out at −20°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Blackeyed Susan is recorded as native to 44 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,685 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,685 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 11 counties
- Arkansas 75 counties
- California 7 counties
- Colorado 17 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 1 county
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 53 counties
- Georgia 40 counties
- Idaho 4 counties
- Illinois 102 counties
- Indiana 80 counties
- Iowa 19 counties
- Kansas 55 counties
- Kentucky 87 counties
- Louisiana 45 counties
- Maine 16 counties
- Massachusetts 14 counties
- Michigan 80 counties
- Minnesota 72 counties
- Mississippi 13 counties
- Missouri 86 counties
- Nebraska 32 counties
- New Hampshire 10 counties
- New Jersey 19 counties
- New Mexico 9 counties
- New York 34 counties
- North Carolina 57 counties
- North Dakota 30 counties
- Ohio 69 counties
- Oklahoma 45 counties
- Oregon 1 county
- Pennsylvania 63 counties
- South Carolina 36 counties
- South Dakota 15 counties
- Tennessee 60 counties
- Texas 87 counties
- Utah 3 counties
- Vermont 12 counties
- Virginia 97 counties
- Washington 4 counties
- West Virginia 48 counties
- Wisconsin 71 counties
- Wyoming 5 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Duration
- Annual, Biennial, Perennial
- Mature height
- 1 ft
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth form
- Single Stem
- Shape
- Semi-Erect
- Lifespan
- Short
- Active growth period
- Fall, Winter and Spring
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intolerant (full sun (shade-intolerant))
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- None
- Precipitation range
- 28 to 65 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium and fine
- pH range
- 6 to 7
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- None
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 10 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −23°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 5a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 150
- Fire tolerance
- Medium
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Orange
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Summer
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Asteraceae
- PLANTS symbol
- RUHI2
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Rudbeckia hirta (PLANTS symbol RUHI2), including 2 varieties and subspecies folded into the species.
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources