Wildflower (forb) · Asteraceae
Cutleaf coneflower
Rudbeckia laciniata · includes its varieties and subspecies
Cutleaf coneflower is recorded as native to 38 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,143 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Cutleaf coneflower at a glance
- Native in
- 1,143 counties, across 38 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b PLANTS minimum temperature −38°F
- Mature height
- 8.2 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade Low water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 3b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −38°F; zone 3b winters bottom out at −35°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Cutleaf coneflower is recorded as native to 38 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,143 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,143 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 1 county
- Arizona 9 counties
- Arkansas 17 counties
- Colorado 25 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 2 counties
- Florida 5 counties
- Georgia 20 counties
- Illinois 80 counties
- Indiana 65 counties
- Iowa 13 counties
- Kansas 32 counties
- Kentucky 50 counties
- Louisiana 5 counties
- Maine 7 counties
- Massachusetts 10 counties
- Michigan 54 counties
- Minnesota 56 counties
- Missouri 97 counties
- Montana 14 counties
- Nebraska 23 counties
- New Hampshire 10 counties
- New Mexico 17 counties
- New York 36 counties
- North Carolina 63 counties
- North Dakota 25 counties
- Ohio 71 counties
- Oklahoma 3 counties
- Pennsylvania 66 counties
- South Carolina 20 counties
- South Dakota 8 counties
- Tennessee 34 counties
- Texas 1 county
- Vermont 10 counties
- Virginia 85 counties
- West Virginia 37 counties
- Wisconsin 60 counties
- Wyoming 12 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, Subshrub
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 8.2 ft
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth form
- Rhizomatous
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Short
- Active growth period
- Spring
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- Low water use
- Drought tolerance
- High
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Low
- Precipitation range
- 15 to 55 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 4.5 to 7
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Low
- Minimum root depth
- 12 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −38°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 100
- Fire tolerance
- None
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Late Summer
- Foliage color
- Gray-Green
- Showy in fall
- Yes
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Asteraceae
- PLANTS symbol
- RULA3
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 laciniata (PLANTS symbol RULA3), including 1 variety or 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