Rudbeckia hirta var "Gloriosa," Gloriosa Daisy

The Gloriosa Daisy is really just a fairly commonly occurring sport of Rudbeckia hirta. What is a sport? Sports are mutations, naturally occurring, in open pollinated plants in the wild. How is Gloriosa different from the common Rudbeckia hirta? Unlike the all yellow rays on the straight species, Gloriosa has red-maroon centers on the flower rays. Gloriosa can also have larger rays, and possibly less branching. For those who enjoy the difference, give this one a try. It will cross pollinate with the straight species, potentially altering its offspring. 

For an analysis on the benefits and complications of planting sports, see here. Although we never planted (or saw) any Gloriosa Daisy on our property, one showed up two years ago (the pictured one, above). We do, however, have the straight species growing in different spots. The seeds for Shelterwood's Gloriosa were collected from a mahogany-red flowered plant at the edge of a woodland road near Park Rapids, MN.

Blooms: yellow with red centers, July into September 

Height: 3 feet

Conditions: sun to pt sun, medium to medium-dry soils