Numerous erect stems grow from a woody perennial root and are commonly two to two and a half feet high. The long-stalked heads terminate the branches. The leaves are finely divided into long narrow segments, both leaves and stem being somewhat rough.
The showy flowers have drooping, velvety rays which are entirely yellow or reddish-brown or partly colored yellow and brown. The small tubular flowers are brown and are borne on a thimble-shaped or columnar disk which varies greatly in size on different flowers, sometimes being nearly two inches long, but it is usually about an inch long. The disk is gray-green before the flowers open.
The dwarf niggerhead (_Ratibida tagetes_) is quite similar to the large niggerhead in growth habit and coloring, but it is a smaller plant and has smaller flowers. It is found from Kansas to Mexico on dry plains and blooms a month later than the large niggerhead.
The niggerhead belongs to a small group of showy American plants. It was introduced into European gardens many years ago, whence it later made its way back to American gardens. The niggerhead group is closely related to the black-eyed Susan and other cone-flowers. Several giant yellow-flowered cone-flowers grow in East Texas.
[Illustration: CLASPING-LEAVED CONE-FLOWER BLACK-EYED SUSAN]
Clasping-Leaved Cone-Flower (_Dracopis amplexicaulis_) makes a showy display in roadside ditches from Central Texas to Louisiana and Missouri. It is a handsome plant with smooth branched stems one to two feet high. The slightly drooping rays commonly have brown spots at the base but may be all yellow. It is often called niggerhead or black-eyed Susan, but it may be distinguished from the latter by the thimble-shaped heads, which are green before the brownish disk flowers open. In South Texas it is at its best the latter part of April, but in North Texas June is its best month.
Black-Eyed Susan (_Rudbeckia hirta_) is a common daisy of the plains region from Southern Canada to Texas and Florida. It is a rough, hairy plant which grows from one to three feet high. Closely resembling it is _Rudbeckia bicolor_, which has shorter ray flowers marked with a reddish-brown base. The ray flowers of _Rudbeckia hirta_ may also show a dark base. Both are widely cultivated. The group was named in honor of Claus Rudbeck, a Swedish botanist.