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Rudbeckia californica; photograph author not stated, no rights reserved CC0author not stated, no rights reserved · observed growing wild · 2026-05-29

Rudbeckia californica A.Gray

California coneflower

Asteraceae · California

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Rudbeckia californica, photograph (c) Connor McInerney, some rights reserved (CC BY)Rudbeckia californica, photograph (c) Connor McInerney, some rights reserved (CC BY)Rudbeckia californica, photograph (c) Ken-ichi Ueda, some rights reserved (CC BY)Rudbeckia californica, photograph author not stated, no rights reservedRudbeckia californica, photograph author not stated, no rights reservedRudbeckia californica, photograph (c) Adam J. Searcy, some rights reserved (CC BY) 72 photographs ›
Habitat figures
Cold floor (1 night in 100)
-15.0°C
Record low -26.8 °C in 44 years, at a typical spot in the range NASA POWER
Warmest month, mean daily high
24°C
Jul and Aug at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
1,377mm
8 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
16–53DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in your months, northern hemisphere
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
Wet winters: the rain comes November to March, with nights below freezing; no growing season read. rain rule, CHELSA
Northern hemisphere unless you set your site. The chart is in the habitat's months.

Summary

Rudbeckia californica is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, known by the common name California coneflower.

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Rudbeckia californica", CC BY-SA 4.0.

About the genus · Rudbeckia

Rudbeckia is a plant genus in the Asteraceae or composite family. Rudbeckia flowers feature a prominent, raised central disc in black, brown shades of green, and in-between tones, giving rise to their familiar common names of coneflowers and black-eyed-susans. All are native to North America, and many species are cultivated in gardens for their showy yellow or gold flower heads that bloom in mid to late summer.

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Rudbeckia", CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cultivation

Seasons

The rain rule reads a rainy season and no growing season: 70% of the median year's rain (1,054 mm of 1,361 mm) falls in November to March, the cooler part of the year, but the mean nightly low is below freezing in February, March, April, December and January, so the rule reads no growing season from it. Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; shifted six months for a southern-hemisphere collection: May to September.

Rain

1,361 mm in the median year at the habitat, 1,054 mm of it November to March. Wettest month January at 244 mm, driest month August at 7 mm. Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 1,031 mm to 1,589 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 1,377 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 1,361 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, northern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 16 to 53 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 13, the highest 90th-percentile month 54).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range is -15.0 °C, the absolute minimum -26.8 °C, 6,647 frost nights in 44 years, 151.1 a year (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 32.2 °C. Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low -6.1 °C in January and December (across the grid cells of the range -10.1 °C to -2.8 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 24.0 °C in July (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: -15.0 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range (NASA POWER).

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 46 to 57% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain. CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the grid cells of the range. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light. CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Temperature. NASA POWER daily minima and maxima over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, lapse-corrected -170 m to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. The cold floor is the 1st-percentile night named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat months, northern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Rudbeckia californica through the yearWarmest months July and August, mean daily high 24 °C; coldest months January and December, mean nightly low -6.1 °C; 1,361 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA; the extremes at the edge from NASA POWER. Habitat months, northern hemisphere.-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°frost32.2° 99th-percentile day, NASA POWER-26.8° lowest night in 44 years, NASA POWER°C · day and nightcold quarter050100150200250300mm rainDLI 16–53RH 46–57%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 85 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low extremes over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, from NASA POWER, marked at the edge, in no month DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C4 / -1–84 / 0–86 / 2–109 / 5–1315 / 10–1820 / 16–2324 / 21–2724 / 20–2720 / 17–2415 / 11–188 / 4–114 / -1–7
Night °C-6 / -10–-3-6 / -10–-2-4 / -8–-1-2 / -6–12 / -2–46 / 3–910 / 7–1210 / 7–127 / 3–102 / -2–5-3 / -7–0-6 / -10–-3
Rain mm244 / 187–278230 / 166–262207 / 149–242109 / 74–12957 / 40–7321 / 16–3211 / 7–187 / 4–1924 / 20–3578 / 56–97151 / 115–196222 / 170–259
DLI18 / 15–2224 / 21–2834 / 31–3743 / 41–4649 / 48–5153 / 53–5453 / 52–5348 / 47–4940 / 38–4229 / 27–3320 / 17–2416 / 13–20
RH %54 / 51–5757 / 54–5957 / 54–5956 / 54–5753 / 51–5549 / 47–5146 / 43–4946 / 43–4847 / 45–4950 / 48–5152 / 49–5554 / 51–57
How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 85 grid cells holding the 216 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 1051:1209 (37.425, -119.525). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum -26.8 °C, 1st-percentile night -15.0 °C, 99th-percentile day 32.2 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 85 distinct grid cells holding 216 of the 216 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1051:1209 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 37.50_-119.375, lapse-corrected -170 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 1956 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeCalifornia · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker37.515, -119.596 · in the densest population, 234 records (96% of those in range)
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 245 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 216 of them placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 53 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 9 km away. 18 records outside the WCVP native range not used. 29 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stay on the map but off the climate.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population of the 245 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Rudbeckia californica, photograph 1did not loadRudbeckia californica, photograph 2did not loadRudbeckia californica, photograph 3did not loadRudbeckia californica, photograph 4did not loadRudbeckia californica, photograph 5did not loadRudbeckia californica, photograph 6did not load

Photographs: (c) Connor McInerney, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2); (c) Ken-ichi Ueda, some rights reserved (CC BY); author not stated, no rights reserved · CC0 (2); (c) Adam J. Searcy, some rights reserved (CC BY).

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Calyptridium monospermum Calyptridium monospermum Montiaceae Photo: CC BY, Mary JantschErythronium pluriflorum Erythronium pluriflorum Manyflower fawnlily Photo: CC BY, Arvel HernandezHackelia mundula Hackelia mundula Pink stickseed Photo: CC BY, Dominic GentilcoreLewisia kelloggii Lewisia kelloggii Kellogg's lewisia Photo: CC0, author not statedChrysolepis sempervirens Chrysolepis sempervirens Sierra chinkapin Photo: CC BY, DenaQuercus vacciniifolia Quercus vacciniifolia Fagaceae Photo: CC BY, Ryan Donnelly

Other Rudbeckia 23 in the reference

Rudbeckia alismifolia Asteraceae Rudbeckia alpicola Rudbeckia alpicola Showy coneflower Photo: CC BY, amy pavelchekRudbeckia amplexicaulis Rudbeckia amplexicaulis Clasping-leaved Coneflower Photo: CC BY, Nathan AaronRudbeckia auriculata Rudbeckia auriculata Eared coneflower Photo: CC0, author not statedRudbeckia deamii Rudbeckia deamii Asteraceae Photo: CC BY-SA, Krzysztof Ziarnek, KenraizRudbeckia fulgida Rudbeckia fulgida Perennial coneflower Photo: CC0, author not statedRudbeckia glaucescens Rudbeckia glaucescens Waxy cone-flower Photo: CC BY, Ian McFaulRudbeckia grandiflora Rudbeckia grandiflora Rough coneflower Photo: CC BY, Eric KnightRudbeckia heliopsidis Rudbeckia heliopsidis Sun-facing coneflower Photo: CC BY, harrierRudbeckia hirta Rudbeckia hirta Black-eyed-Susan Photo: CC BY, Alison NorthupRudbeckia laciniata Rudbeckia laciniata Coneflower Photo: CC BY, Will KuhnRudbeckia maxima Rudbeckia maxima Great coneflower Photo: CC BY, Sam Kieschnick all 24 ›

Names & registers

Also known as Rudbeckia californica var. californica. (GBIF Backbone)

GBIFPOWOIPNIWFOWikidataWikipediaiNaturalist

The record

Family
Asteraceae
Described by
A.Gray
Native to
California
Wild records
245 in range · 53 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-22
GBIF species record gbif.species answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular answeredasked 2026-10-22names fetched 2026-10-22
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredas of 2026-10-21GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hbdw64, of 2026-10-21
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-22
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-22NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 37.50_-119.375, lapse-corrected -170 m at 6.5 °C/km
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-22
Wikipedia wikipedia answeredasked 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild answeredasked 2026-10-22from iNaturalist's open data of 2026-09-27: research-grade observations with an open-licence photograph, the 24 whose photographs iNaturalist received last (the open data holds no votes); filled 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media answeredasked 2026-10-22
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 22 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

Cultifolio

Opening your plants…