Common names: prairie coneflower, yellow coneflower, gray-headed coneflower
Scientific name: Ratibida pinnata
What do prairie coneflowers look like?
- Size: Yellow coneflowers are between 2 and 5 feet tall.
- Flower: The flowers are made up of ray flowers and disk flowers. The ray flowers are yellow and hang down from the cone-shaped flowerhead. The disk flowers are tiny and brown.
- Leaves and stem: The leaves are covered in stiff hairs and feel rough. The stem is rough and hairy, too. The leaves near the ground are deeply divided, but the leaves on the stem are not divided at all.
- Fruit: The cone part of the flower starts out green but turns brown. The seedhead is filled with small, brown seeds that smell wonderful!
Where can you find them?
You'll find prairie coneflowers growing in fields and dry open woodlands.
Why are they important?
The colorful blooms attract bees, butterflies, and other pollinating insects. Birds and small mammals eat the seeds.