Amy's Relation to Creation & Botanicals, LLC

While trying to decide which plant I would be investigating next, my mother celebrated her 88^th birthday! I remember as a child, Mom telling me her favorite flower was the Black-Eyed Susan. I did a quick search to see if there are any health benefits to this lovely plant, and, you guessed it, there are! So, in honor of my mother, the Black-Eyed Susan is the feature of this article. I hope you enjoy learning a bit more about this cheerful plant.

A little background about the Black-Eyed Susan Rudbeckia hirta which was named after botanist Olaf Rudbeck and his father Olaus Rudbeck who created Sweeden’s first botanical garden. This plant was made Maryland’s State Flower in 1918 and inspired the school colors for the University of Southern Mississippi. R. hirta has a long history of being used by Cherokee, Chippewa, Iroquois, Potawatomi, Shuswap, and Seminole peoples for parasitic infections in children (root tea and wash), sores (wash from root), earache (root sap or juice), venereal diseases, generalized swelling, snake bites (poultice of root and leaves), heart medicine, cold and flu remedy (root tea), sore eyes, headaches (cold infusion of flowers), fevers (cold infusion of flowers) and as a yellow dye for rushes used to make woven mats.

Very interesting indeed, but just who was Susan? Perhaps, Susan came from a poem by John Gay (1685-1732) titled Sweet William’s Farewell to Black-ey’d Susan: A Ballad. Here is a link to the poem Sweet William’s Farewell to Black-ey’d Susan: A Ballad by John Gay. – All Poetry. We will likely never know for certain but since I am a romantic at heart, I really like this theory!

Now on to business! Rudbeckia hirta is a member of the Asteraceae family and is native to Eastern and Central North America and has been naturalized in Western North America and China. The Black-Eyed Susan prefers full sun and moderately dry soil. You can often spot her in prairies, meadows, fields, open deciduous woods, along roads and in ground that has been disturbed. This plant can be annual, biennial, or perennial depending on the habitat and genetic characteristics. It has a single taproot with upright stems that are covered by hair. Lanced shaped leaves are alternate and mostly basal about 4-7” long, covered by hair and each with 3 prominent veins. Each stem has only one daisy like composite flower head that blooms from June to October. (Hmmm, maybe this is why Mother has an affinity for this flower since it is in bloom for her birthday?) Flowers are up to 4” in diameter with 10-20 beautiful yellow ray florets and a brown or black dome shaped cone in the middle which is made up of many small disc florets. Bracts are also covered with hair. This plant ranges in height from 12-39” and width from 12-18”. It is a drought tolerant plant and reproduces by seed only.

            Black-Eyed Susans are widely used in parks and gardens for aesthetic purposes and to control soil erosion. They are also a host for bordered patch, gorgone checkerspot and silvery checkerspot butterfly larva and provide shelter and food for some birds including goldfinches and house finches. Roots, leaves and flowers can be used to make teas, decoctions, extracts, poultices and washes to support health. Flowers and leaves should be harvested in the morning when in peak bloom and roots should be harvested after the plant has produced seeds by digging deep to get the entire taproot. Use the plant materials fresh or dry them for later use.

            There are over 250 constituents or chemical compounds in Rudbeckia hirta with the main categories of fatty acids, amino acids, organic acids, hydroxycinnamic acids, flavonoids, coumaric acid and especially sesquiterpenes. For a complete list, please review the supplementary material for the article Preliminary Phytochemical and Biological Evaluation of Rudbeckia hirta Flowers (nih.gov).

            Those constituents act on the body as thrombolytics (clot dissolving), antioxidants, analgesics (pain relieving), immune stimulants, antibacterials, antifungals and anti-cancers. More specifically, they help with supporting the body when ailing with earaches, irritated skin, sores, cuts, scrapes, colds, flu, weakened immune system, parasite infections in children, fungal infections (especially candida parapsilosis), tuberculosis, gram positive and some gram negative bacterial infections, snake bites and generalized swelling. Research is also being done on the use of this plant for certain types of breast cancer.

            Regarding safety with Black-Eyed Susans, use it with caution if you have an autoimmune disease. Conflicting information abounds regarding toxicity to cats. The ASPCA was contacted June 26, 2024 and they informed that the plant is NOT poisonous to cats but it may cause some GI upset.

            Preparing Black-Eyed Susans for use is actually quite simple. For an earache, you can use sap or juice from fresh roots and place 1-2 drops in the affected ear morning and night until completely recovered. A decoction of the root can be made with 1 cup of plant material to 1 pint of water, bringing it to a boil then reducing the heat and simmering for about 20 minutes and then straining out the plant material. Allow to cool a bit to use as a wash for skin ailments and swelling. The root decoction can also be drunk daily for weakened immune systems, colds and flu until symptoms are gone and for parasites in children. An extract of dried plant material (mostly root and leaves) and alcohol in a 1:20 ratio (or use your own folk method) can be used for tuberculosis, bacterial infections, fungal infections, generalized swelling, and antioxidant activities. For snake bites, a poultice can be made of the leaves and/or root by macerating or blending it with just enough water to make a paste and then placing it on the affected area until the swelling is reduced.

As always, if using Black-Eyed Susan as a supplement to your health, you should consult with your primary care provider because nothing in this article has been approved by the FDA. The above information is not intended to diagnose, treat, or cure any diseases, it is for informational purposes only.

            My hope is that after reading this article you will have gained a new appreciation for Black-Eyed Susans and their uses. Just a reminder if you do choose to harvest this plant, make sure to correctly identify it and that it is from a healthy stand. Only harvest about 1/3 of the stand. While it is so tempting to harvest from roadsides, it is really not a good idea due to possible contaminants from vehicles, potentially having been sprayed with chemicals from road workers or farmers and your physical safety being close to traffic. You can take pictures of them or enjoy their simple beauty. I’d love to have a further conversation if you are interested. Stop by Amy’s Relation to Creation & Botanicals, LLC in Marine City, MI and have a cup of tea and a conversation or just say “Hi”. Thanks for reading and Happy Birthday Mom!

References:

All Poetry contributors. “Sweet William’s Farewell to Black-ey’d Susan: A Ballad”. All Poetry. Web. June 26, 2024.

Apelian, N. and Davis, C. The Lost Book of Herbal Remedies: The Healing Power of Plant Medicine. Global Brother SRL. 2019.

Burlec, A.F.; Pecio, Ł.; Mircea, C.; Tuchilus, C.; Corciova, A.; Danciu, C.; Cioanca, O.; Caba, I.C.; Pecio, S.; Oleszek, W.; et al. Preliminary Phytochemical and Biological Evaluation of Rudbeckia hirta Flowers. Plants 2023, 12, 2871. https://doi.org/10.3390/ plants12152871

Faiza, R.T., Mahmud, M.E., Islam, M., Faisal, M.S., Islam, M.A., Asad, A.B., Hossain, M.S. 2019. Determination of thrombolytic, antioxidant and analgesic activity of methanolic extracts of Rudbeckia hirta. Discovery Phytomedicine 6(2): 77-82. DOI: 10.15562/phytomedicine.2019.87

Foster, S. and Duke, J.A. Peterson Field Guides: Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants and Herbs. Second ed. Houghton Mifflin Company. 2000.

Native American Ethnobotany DB. BRIT – Native American Ethnobotany Database. Naeb.brit.org/uses/search/?string=rudbeckia+hirta. Accessed June 25, 2024.

Pellerito, M. In Memory of black-eyed Susan and Sweet William. Grit Rural American Know-How. Grit.com/farm-and-garden/in-memory-of-black-eyed-susan-sweet-william/. Published July 10, 2012.

Peterson, R. and Mckenny, M. A Field Guide to Wildflowers of Northeastern and North-Central North America. Houghton Mifflin Company. 1968.

Stewart, C.D., Jones C.D., Setzer, W.N. 2014. Leaf essential oil composition of Rudbeckia fulgida Aiton, Rudbeckia hirta L., and Symphyotrichum novae-angliae (L.) G.L. Nesom (Asteraceae). American Journal of Essential Oils and Natural Products 2(1): 36-38.

Tekiela, S. Wildflowers of Michigan Field Guide Adventure Publications, 2000.

Wikipedia contributors. “Rudbeckia hirta.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 1 Nov. 2023. Web. 25 Jun. 2024.