This species of coneflower is also known as drooping coneflower and weary Susan because its yellow ray flowers are soft and droopy. It has a slender, grayish cone that blooms from the bottom up and smells of anise when bruised. A native of dry prairies (aka pinnate prairie coneflower), it thrives in a wide range of medium to dry soils, including nutrient poor and clay, and full to part sun. The stiff stems may flop if the soil is too moist or rich. It spreads by seed and rhizomes and looks best when massed because individual plants are narrow and sparsely adorned with distinctively coarse, hairy, irregularly shaped leaves. The showy flowers (aka yellow coneflower) bloom for an extended time, from July to September, and the plant spreads easily to form clumps or colonies, making it useful in prairie restorations. Gray-headed coneflower is stunning when planted with purple coneflower in areas where they are allowed to spread.  
 
Native bees and butterflies flock to the infertile, bright yellow rays of gray-headed coneflower. The fertile, rich brown disk flowers reward the insects with nectar and pollen. Later, goldfinches and other songbirds devour the seeds. 
 
Native habitats include dry prairies and savannas, dry woods, woodland borders, and along railroad tracks. Use in sunny borders, native plant gardens, woodland edges, and meadows or prairies. Great for cut-flower arrangements.
 
Plant Characteristics:
Grows 3-5’ tall and 1 ½-2’ wide.
 
Needs full or part sun.
 
Prefers medium-moisture soils and adapts to a variety of moist or slightly dry soils. Tolerates clay and poor soils.
 
Blooms in late summer with 1-12 flower heads on long, ridged, and angled stalks at tips of branching stems. Flower heads consist of 3-15 yellow ray flowers surrounding an erect, ½” cone of gray-brown disk flowers. Bracts are narrowly triangular and covered with short hairs. Disk florets become small, brown seeds with toothlike projections and no tufts of hair.
 
Irregular-shaped leaves near the base are up to 8” long and 5” wide, deeply divided into narrow, toothed lobes. Lance-shaped lower leaves are on long stalks; leaves become smaller and stalkless as they ascend the stem. 
 
Wildlife Value:
Host plant to larvae of sunflower moth, Epiblema iowana McDunnough, and wavy-lined moth. Common bee pollinators include bumble, sweat, long-horned, and leafcutters. Viceroy, monarch, azure, sulphur, crescent, and hairstreak butterflies also visit.
 
Medicinal, Edible, and Other Uses:
Native Americans used the root to cure toothaches. The plant was also used as snuff.