VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Rudbeckia hirta | Black-Eyed Susan 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
NO-ENTRY


PALATABILITY : 
In the western Cross Timbers of northern Texas in 1944, black-eyed Susan
was lightly grazed by cattle during the last half of April, heavily
grazed during May, and lightly grazed during the first half of June.  It
was not grazed at any other time [20].

In southeastern Minnesota white-tailed deer grazed black-eyed Susan
plants which had been transplanted as seedlings into test plots in the
spring of 1983.  Thirty-six percent of black-eyed Susan plants were
grazed in 1983, and 8 percent in 1984.  No plant was grazed more than
once.  Eastern cottontails and thirteen-lined ground squirrels were
observed in the study area, but they did not make use of black-eyed
Susan [21].


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


COVER VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
Black-eyed Susan is recommended for restoration of disturbed areas and
prairies [51].

Black-eyed Susan seeds are available for restoration and conservation
efforts from the USDA Soil Conservation Service Plant Materials Center
at Corning, New York [58].

Roadside sites: Black-eyed Susan seeds or plants were used along
highways in Wisconsin as part of a natural tallgrass prairie roadside
restoration project.  Black-eyed Susan gave excellent response to all
attempted propagation methods:  direct seeding on the field site;
transplanting seedlings; and tranplanting year-old plants [46].

Black-eyed Susan, along with other native wildflowers, was used in
Massachusetts to restore a roadside site that had shallow, infertile
soil, poor moisture retention, and hostile exposure.  After 4 years,
black-eyed Susan was one of few survivors at the site [1].

Black-eyed Susan was used in the rehabilitation of a sand and gravel
borrow-pit in Greene County, Ohio in 1986 and 1987.  Black-eyed Susan
was inconspicuous and aboveground growth was slow the first summer, but
during the second year (1987) it flowered.  On the drier, less fertile
sites black-eyed Susan flowered in 1988, even though it was still quite
small [14].

Mine sites:  Black-eyed Susan, along with other native prairie forbs and
grasses, was planted on iron mine tailings in west-central Wisconsin.
The tailings are sandy loam in texture, lack essential nutrients, are
very low in organic matter, and have an average pH of 8.5.  Seed was
broadcast by hand, raked in, and mulched.  No artificial watering or
weeding was done.  Of the black-eyed Susan seeds planted, 6.8 percent
produced seedlings.  Growth was slow, but by the second growing season,
many of the plants were flowering.  Black-eyed Susan showed very little
response to any fertilizer treatment [32]. 

Prairie sites: Black-eyed Susan was used as a cover crop to protect
other forb and grass seedlings in a north-central Illinois oldfield
prairie restoration project [8].

Black-eyed Susan was used in a seeding effort on open upland and drier
southwest-facing slopes around groves and draws of hickories (Carya
spp.) and oaks (Quercus spp.) in degraded tallgrass savanna in northwest
Illinois.  In October and November of 1988, seeds were hand broadcast.
By fall, 1991, there were seedlings and mature black-eyed Susan plants
[9].


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
Black-eyed Susan is used as a garden ornamental [51].

The leaves of black-eyed Susan are used to make a tea that is said to be
a diuretic, with some cardiac stimulation properties [45].

The Forest Potawatomis treated colds with a tea prepared from the roots
of black-eyed Susan [4].


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Black-eyed Susan may be an indicator of range condition.  In the western
Cross Timbers of northern Texas on fine sandy loam soil, black-eyed
Susan was not present on range in excellent and good condition, had
coverage of 2 percent on range in fair condition, and had coverage of 4
percent on range in poor condition [20].  The Missouri grass glades were
overgrazed from the late 1800's until the 1960's.  By the 1930's on
overgrazed open range the composition of the once productive prairie
glades had changed to a community of soft chess (Bromus mollis) and
black-eyed Susan [42].

Tallgrass prairie in north-central Oklahoma was subjected to
short-duration grazing schedules from 1985 to 1988.  Black-eyed Susan
did not respond to different grazing schedules, but did fluctuate in
numbers in response to environmental conditions influencing its
establishment [25].

Black-eyed Susan was grazed by white-tailed deer in southeastern
Minnesota in 1983 and 1984.  The grazing did not significantly affect
seedling survival in wet years.  However, under drought conditions
grazed plants might not be able to resume growth sufficiently to survive
winter or compete successfully with annuals the following spring [21].

Herbivory may decrease seed yield from black-eyed Susan.  Black-eyed
Susan plants in a pasture in southern Oklahoma were infested with the
silvery checkerspot butterfly (Nymphalidae) caterpillar during the
summer of 1981.  Heads from infested plants produced 50 percent fewer
seeds than did heads from uninfested plants.  Dispersion of black-eyed
Susan plants may decrease infestation because of the limited distances
the caterpillars can travel [47].

Fertilization of black-eyed Susan is probably not effective [27,32].

Black-eyed Susan may be extremely sensitive to ozone exposure.  More
than 50 percent of black-eyed Susan plants showed foliage injury in
response to the ambiant ozone levels which occurred in the Great Smoky
Mountains in 1989.  With ozone exposure twice ambient level, injury was
greater than 90 percent [30].

Black-eyed Susan may be a good indicator species for soil cadmium.  In
northwestern Indiana urban-industrial regions the soil is contaminated
with cadmium and other heavy metals.  Black-eyed Susan seed germination
was reduced in proportion to additions of soil cadmium [62].

Related categories for Species: Rudbeckia hirta | Black-Eyed Susan