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December 30, 2007 : Rudbeckia hirta var. pulcherrima
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Keywords: Asteraceae | Rudbeckia hirta L. var. pulcherrima Farw. | Mars Hill Wildlife Management Area, Brokenhead, Manitoba, Canada
Well, this is it folks — 1000 consecutive days, and now it's time for a (small) break. I suspect the next posting will occur either on Thursday or Friday this week, so BPotD won't be gone for too long. I thought I'd share a photograph from the home of my youth today.
These black-eyed susans grow in a south-facing, sandy-soiled shallow ditch a few miles from where I grew up. I don't have any particularly striking memories about this little patch of plants (perhaps a hundred individuals in good years), other than the general cheeriness I associate with them and learning the name Rudbeckia when identifying this taxon for the very first time using the “Wildflowers Across the Prairies” book.
Rudbeckia hirta var. pulcherrima is distributed throughout much of the USA and Canada. In some jurisdictions it is not native, but instead introduced and naturalized, e.g., California (Jepson Manual's treatment of the taxon).
Wikipedia has a short article on black-eyed susans, including a lengthy list of alternative common names (blackiehead, brown betty, brown daisy, brown-eyed susan, gloriosa daisy, golden Jerusalem, poorland daisy, yellow daisy, yellow ox-eye daisy), but I'm sticking with what I first learned it as commonly. More intriguing than the Wikipedia page is this extremely lengthy weblog post from Hank of A Lake County Point of View: “A Tale of Two Susans”. You probably could spend hours reading that post if you followed all of the links, but particularly salient is the mention of the origin of the name Rudbeckia: it is named in honour of the Swedish scientist Olof Rudbeck the Younger. Named by whom? Rudbeck's pupil, Linnaeus. And as this year draws to a close, so does the tercentenary celebration of Linnaeus. Finishing a run of a thousand consecutive Botany Photo of the Day posts with mention of Linnaeus seems about right.
Botany resource link: Since you'll need more reading material while BPotD is on hiatus, do investigate the excellent series on the Washington botanist Wilhelm Nikolaus Suksdorf recently reprinted in the Botanical Electronic News: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at December 30, 2007 12:00 AM
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Comments
Posted by: Lindsay McGhee at December 30, 2007 1:15 AM
Lovely photos. Good lighting and the depth of field on the right hand side is perfect.
Posted by: Ken at December 30, 2007 1:40 AM
bravo daniel bravo
happy new year
i hope it will as bright
as this brown eyed susan
i wish one and all a happy new year
this is a very strong photogragh thank you
Posted by: elizabeth a airhart at December 30, 2007 3:44 AM
you've certainly earned your break, daniel. wish i could tell you in a few short words how wonderfully uplifting and inspiring your missives are to a new york city girl looking for mother nature in every nook and cranny in this home of steel and concrete . . . and finding it. hope you can keep this up even if on a weekly basis. happy new year to one and all.
Posted by: sheilagh weymouth at December 30, 2007 5:22 AM
Congratulations. A very unique achievement. And I have not forgotten about my suggestion of donating funding specifically for BPotD. Your faithfulness and dedication is much appreciated and needs further recognition. BPotD is an excellent educational outreach program from the UBC Botanical Garden. I'm sure many others will agree.
Posted by: Knox at December 30, 2007 6:00 AM
Congratulations! Couldn't agree more with Knox's comments.... You deserve a break, but you will be missed!
Just a stunning picture today too.. thank you and all the very best for the New Year.
Posted by: Hazel at December 30, 2007 7:55 AM
Congratulations, Daniel. You have created a wonderfully educational and aesthetically beautiful series of photos, and we can only hope that it will continue for a long time. The only thing I would like to suggest would be an index of the photos so you could look up a specific species. Maybe it already exists and I just don't know where it is. Anyway, from your friends down in Southern California, Happy New Year!
Posted by: Michael Charters at December 30, 2007 8:32 AM
Daniel, yours has been my first site to check every morning for years, I have learned much about botany, enjoyed photography, and enjoyed the prose very much. Rest, refresh, please continue in some form for all of us. We need you. Judy B., Michigan grandma.
Posted by: Judy Blevins at December 30, 2007 8:56 AM
Have a Great 2008!
And thank you for all you shared in 2007!
Happy New Year!
Posted by: Joybug at December 30, 2007 9:08 AM
Rudbeckia hirta - Z4 - RHS Index of Garden Plants, Griffiths
Rudbeckia hirta - Z3-7 - A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants, Brickell, Cole, Zuk
Rudbeckia rud-bek-ee-a hirta hir-ta Hairy. Dictionary of Plant Names, Coombes
Thank you, Daniel! Happy New Year!
Posted by: Beverley at December 30, 2007 9:28 AM
I too, agree that BOTD is a great way to start off my computer day. I'm so glad I found this site and Daniel, I wish you a enjoyable few days off and my deepest thanks for making us all more knowledgable.
Posted by: SandyMinZ4 at December 30, 2007 9:48 AM
Thank you, thank you, thank you - love the site and look forward to it each day! Enjoy your rest.
Posted by: Charlotte at December 30, 2007 10:02 AM
thank you daniel for making each day brighter in mind and heart. Happy New Year and happy 1001 whenever it comes....
Posted by: debbie at December 30, 2007 12:37 PM
Happy New Year and thanks so much for all you do for us.
Posted by: Meg Bernstein at December 30, 2007 3:59 PM
What? Taking some time off after ONLY a thousand days.... geez, what a bum ;-).
Seriously, though, thanx for all your hard work, and helping me maintain an interest in botany that only seriously began a decade ago while in the wildlife program at Humboldt State. Yeah, animals live among and utilize plants, who knew?-).
On today's topic: I, too, grew up with black-eyed susans, though I knew them as gloriosa daisies, as that was the name on the containers when we acquired them for our backyard. They're long gone now, but one thing I distinctly remember about them was that there was a particular species of crab spider that I only saw on those flowers, and haven't seen since.
Have a good few days off, Daniel, and remember there are many of us who would be more than willing to give targeted donations to pay for an intern or two.
Posted by: Eric Simpson at December 30, 2007 4:50 PM
I saw some hits on my blogs from the UBC Botanical Garden and Center for Plant Research (a garden and institution I am blown away by) and could not believe it. I thought it had to be me misreading. So I followed the links back and now I'm here.
I am so glad I found this.
1000 days. Spectacular.
I have much to read and catch up on here.
And I must say that I am honored and astounded to even be mentioned (much less linked) on anything from the UBC Botanical Garden and Center for Plant Research. I am COMPLETELY impressed with what you all do. What a splendid holiday gift you have given me!
Thank you.
Hank
Posted by: Hank at December 30, 2007 10:18 PM
Congratulations, Happy New Year, and thank you so much for making my day so much happier. I look forward to coming to work just to see your beautiful photos.
Posted by: Marian Tompkins at December 31, 2007 7:06 AM
Congratulations Daniel:
Quite a feat posting 1000 beautiful images, always accompanied by interesting text, useful to both lay person and academic alike.
You certainly introduced the University of British Columbia Botanical Garden to the world.
And opened our eyes to the wonders of nature around us, making us aware how important our fragile global environmemt truly is.
David
Posted by: David Tarrant at December 31, 2007 9:03 AM
Thank you, Daniel. I'm constantly amazed by your committment and the uplifting beauty of the photos and have learnt a lot since signing on last year. Keep it up.
Posted by: Guin Vaughan at December 31, 2007 9:37 AM
Please consider submitting a post to Berry Go Round, A Plant’s Carnival!
http://berrygoround.wordpress.com/2007/12/31/announcement-for-berry-go-round-1/
Posted by: Laurent at December 31, 2007 9:45 AM
Thank you, Daniel, for bringing us closer to Nature and thus closer to each other. A very Happy New Year to you and all my brothers and sisters in this virtual family worldwide. Plants Rule!
Posted by: Sarah Dixon at December 31, 2007 10:53 AM
Thank you so much for cheering up my office computer screen on a daily basis.
Although I only recently discovered your wonderful service, the links to previous years and days gives me a chance to look back at the 1000 posts. What a great way to spend some time with plants during our snowy winter.
Have a great New Year and enjoy your break.
Posted by: John Murtaugh at December 31, 2007 11:45 AM
Let me add to the hurrahs for your terrific work. I love what you do. And I love that this site has a "widget" for Mac OS which makes it so easy to fetch each day. The beautiful photos and factual information with links is so much appreciated. Thank you!
Posted by: Susan at December 31, 2007 4:59 PM
Many, many thanks you to you, Daniel, for all I have learned. Today's photographs are lovely. I especially like the seletive focus and the sharpness of the pictures. Although I did not see all 1,000 photographs what I saw and saved are wonderful. I appricated all the work you have gone through.
My very best to you,
Thank you,
Margaret-Rae
Posted by: Margaret-Rae Davis at December 31, 2007 7:33 PM
Can't thank you enough for the sheer pleasure you have brought to me personally each day when I turn on my computer, also to the thousands of others throughout the world! I feel as though I belong to a huge club, we are all connected by our love of the botanical image and you Daniel are the person who has brought this about. Happy New Year to you and to all the other 'members', I look forward to 2008 and learning so much more from your fantastic photos.
Posted by: Daph at January 1, 2008 3:11 AM
New Year and 1000 postings seems the time to send you a great big "Thank You" to my favorite site. As a European botanist, I am less familiar with the flora your side of the Atlantic which adds to the fun. I have not missed a day, since I landed on the site by accident, over a couple of years ago, presumably Googling some plant or another.
Posted by: Don Anderson at January 1, 2008 7:36 AM
Happy New Year and many, many thanks. Have been offline for a while so just enjoyed a feast of BPotD this morning. Loved the baobab trees. Blown away by the Viola rosettes. I never knew. And all the Patagonia links. I can't say enough about your site. Enjoy your break, but come back soon. Deb
Posted by: deb lievens at January 1, 2008 7:42 AM
Happy New Year Daniel, and thanks for the photos of the black-eyed susans, reminders that winter isn't forever
Posted by: hollis at January 2, 2008 7:49 AM
Thanks to you, Daniel to and all else involved. Your science reporting has been excellent, and your photographs, beautiful and fascinating.
Yet another priceless web gem! Keep up the great work!
Posted by: Josh Williams at January 3, 2008 7:59 PM
Please share your comments about the photograph(s) and accompanying write-up. Telling a story about the subject of the photograph(s) is also much appreciated! If you have a gardening question, the best place to ask is on the UBC Botanical Garden Forums. Thank you!
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Botany Photo of the Day is a project of the UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research, located in Vancouver, British Columbia Canada. UBC BGCPR is a department of the Faculty of Land and Food Systems within The University of British Columbia.
Congrats Daniel!!!