This perennial plant looks like a sunflower with its tall, leafy stalk and branched flowers at the top. The flowers are greenish-yellow with slanting golden rays and grow three to four inches wide. As the seeds mature, the centers turn elongated and brownish. It produces beautiful pinnately dissected leaves in early spring.

The black-eyed Susan (R. hirta), an eastern species introduced to many places in the West, has dark brown or brown-maroon hemispheres surrounding orange-yellow, slightly drooping rays. The fruit lacks scales or crowns, and the lanceolate leaves sometimes have teeth.

Due to its tendency to spread through underground stems, the cut-leaf coneflower is best suited for large areas. It may require support in the garden, but it is a very hardy plant.