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Rudbeckia hirta 'CAPPUCINO' Black-eyed Susan, gloriosa daisy
Symbivit Tric (arbuscular)
Symbivit (arbuscular)Rudbeckia
The genus Rudbeckia belongs to the daisy family and includes around twenty species native mainly to the eastern and central parts of North America. These plants are typical of bright, open and often disturbed places: prairies, woodland edges, light savannas, embankments, post‑fire sites and abandoned, unirrigated ground. All species share the same basic flower structure, with broad ray florets in shades of yellow, orange and brown and a dark, often domed central cone made up of tiny tubular florets. The genus was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 and named after two Swedish naturalists, Olof Rudbeck the Elder (1630–1702) and Olof Rudbeck the Younger (1660–1740), who played a key role in the early botanical research at Uppsala. In the past there was uncertainty about the placement of some species, with various authors shifting them between Rudbeckia, Echinacea and Ratibida because of their similar cone structure. Modern studies, however, have confirmed that Rudbeckia forms a distinct evolutionary lineage that has become one of the botanical symbols of the North American grasslands.
Rudbeckia hirta, the black‑eyed Susan or gloriosa daisy, is a North American wanderer of the sun, growing wherever there is light, warmth and soil that drains quickly yet never dries out completely. Linnaeus described it in 1753 and named it after his teacher Olof Rudbeck (1630–1702), a physician and botanist whose family later became connected with Alfred Nobel. The symbolism is rather fitting: Rudbeck sought to link botany with medicine, and the plant bearing his name was used in its homeland as a medicinal herb, with root decoctions taken for colds, earache and even snakebite. Its natural range stretches from southern Canada across most of the United States to northern Mexico, and throughout this vast area it appears on sunny meadows, embankments and woodland margins. It reached Europe in the 19th century and settled in quickly; in Central Europe it was first recorded in the wild in 1873. Here it is often grown as a short‑lived perennial or annual, yet thanks to its reliable self‑seeding it behaves as if it had lived on the same spot for generations. Cottage gardens, parks and public plantings welcomed it readily, as its flowers bring a bright, sunlit accent from mid‑summer into autumn and can illuminate a late‑season border where many other species have already finished their work.
Cappucino is a black‑eyed Susan cultivar with large blooms in a breathtaking range of deep shades – chocolate brown, mahogany wood, roasted coffee bean, translucent amber and the kind of gold you might imagine in a pirate’s treasure chest. What makes it especially charming is that each plant is slightly different, a result of the high natural variability of the species and its seed‑raised origin. The flowers span 10–12 cm and are made up of 13–19 ray florets, almost always an odd number, arranged around a dark brown centre that soon reveals a dusting of golden pollen at its tip. The stems are sturdy, 60–80 cm tall, each carrying a single bloom that is surprisingly long‑lasting – in our experience it remains attractive on the plant for a good 2 to 3 weeks. Cappucino flowers for a long time, from July to October, provided the spent stems are removed regularly.
The leaves are coarse, typical of this species: broadly lanceolate, 8 to 15 cm long, with a distinctly rough surface, densely bristly and almost sandy to the touch, mid‑green in colour. They grow mainly at the base, forming a low, dense rosette; leaves along the stems are scarce or insignificant. The origin of the cultivar is undocumented and given its appearance in European horticultural catalogues around the turn of the millennium, it is likely to have arisen as a selection from colour‑variable lines of Rudbeckia hirta, which were being bred at the time for a wider palette of shades.
The brown forms of this rudbeckia fascinated me even as a child. I knew all the usual bright and cheerful flower colours, but when I first saw a bloom that looked more like a bear crossed with the cap of a woodland mushroom, I was captivated. I explored the colour differences across a single bed, searching for where the brown deepened, where the gold shone, where the eye had crisp edges and where it blurred softly. At that moment it did not matter what else was flowering nearby, and I suppose what I am trying to say here is that if these tones enchant you, it may not matter to you either what you plant beside them. Simply enjoy this unusual colouring that evokes hot summer days and the summer break.
Last update 02-07-2026
Gloriosa daisy is best considered a short‑lived perennial or biennial which, in temperate climates, behaves much more like an annual and persists mainly through self‑seeding rather than the true longevity of the mother plants. It grows best in full sun and in well‑drained, light to medium soils that do not remain wet over winter, as waterlogging is more damaging to it than drought. Once established it tolerates short dry spells well, although extremely poor, sandy soils lead to weak growth and sparse flowering. It thrives in heat. It does not require fertilising, since excess nitrogen produces lush but soft growth and fewer flowers. Spent flower heads may be removed to prolong blooming, but some must be left to ripen seed, otherwise the planting will disappear within one or two seasons. Container growing is possible only for a short time, as the plants quickly exhaust the substrate and pots are prone to freezing in winter. In spring it is vulnerable to slugs, which can destroy all new leaves to the point that the plant weakens and dies. Its hardiness ranges from −29 to −34 °C (USDA zone 4-5).
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- STANDARD QUALITY - Plants of this group are 1st class quality with number of branches and overall density adequate to their size and age, considering they were container grown.
- DE LUXE QUALITY - This label guarantees a luxurious quality of manually selected plants that, compared to their height and age, are exceptionally dense and beautiful.
- EXTRA - These plants are usually mature and bigger specimens with exceptional overall appearance.
- STANDARD (as described in the plant form) means a tree with a trunk of 190-210 cm and a crown at the top, unless specified differently. The commercial size for trees is their girth measured in the height of 1m from ground.
- HOBBY - These plants are of the same quality as our standard-quality plants but younger and therefore cheaper.
- SHRUB - a woody plant with branches growing bushy from the ground level.
- HALF-STANDARD or MINI-STANDARD - a small tree with shorter trunk, its size is usually specified.
- FEATHERED - These are trees with branches growing already from the base of the trunk and up along the stem.
- GRASSES and PERENNIALS - Sizes given usually read the diameter of the pot or the clump, as specified.
