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Gaillardia aristata
Also called Common perennial gaillardia, Blanket Flower, Brown Eyed Susan, Gaillardia, Great Blanket Flower, Great Blanketflower, Great Flowered Gaillardia
Common gaillardia (Gaillardia aristata) is a North American perennial wildflower in the daisy family, widely grown as a garden flower. It thrives in full sun, well-drained soil and dry conditions.
Gaillardia aristata is a North American species of flowering plant in the sunflower family. It is known by the common names common blanketflower and common gaillardia. This perennial wildflower is native to the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains, but cultivars have been introduced in much of North America and Europe. Blanketflower is an early- to mid-successional species typically found growing alongside native grasses, sagebrush, or conifers. It is pollinated by a variety of bees and beetles, and host to Schinia masoni. Indigenous communities of the Pacific Northwest and northern plains used blanketflower as an ingredient in a variety of medicines, including those for heatstroke, headaches, and tuberculosis. The first Gaillardia aristata specimen was collected in 1806 on the Lewis and Clark expedition, and first described by Frederick Pursh in 1814.
Gaillardia aristata is a widely cultivated ornamental plant, used as a perennial garden flower. It tolerates full sun to partial shade in USDA Hardiness Zones of 2 and above. Common cultivars include 'Amber Wheels' and 'Maxima Aurea,' which have fully yellow flower heads, and the Sunrita series.
Most commercially available cultivars are hybrids of G. aristata and the closely related G. pulchella. These short-lived perennials, called Gaillardia x grandiflora Van Houtte, flower June through September and can typically tolerate USDA zones 3 to 10. Common cultivars include the Arizona series, 'Burgundy,' 'Goblin,' 'Oranges and Lemons,' and the Sunset series.
The genus, Gaillardia, originated in the Chihuahuan desert, though Gaillardia aristata moved northward following Rocky Mountain uplift. Blanketflower is native to the Rocky Mountains and the upper Great Plains, and can be found in Alberta, Arizona, British Columbia, Colorado, Idaho, Manitoba, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Saskatchewan, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. G. aristata is introduced in California, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Northwest Territories, Ontario, Quebec, Wisconsin, and Yukon. Blanketflower has been reported throughout much of Europe, as well as Australia, Argentina, China, India, Mozambique, South Africa, and South Korea. It is considered invasive in Hungary and Russia.
Some Plateau Indian tribes used blanketflower to treat wounds and settle fevers. Okanagan and Colville peoples used blanketflower to treat backaches, kidney problems, and venereal disease, while Nlaka'pamux people used it for headaches, mumps, and tuberculosis. Blackfeet people used G. aristata to treat gastroenteritis, sunstroke, and skin disorders. The plant was also used to treat horse saddle sores and to make rawhide waterproof.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Gaillardia aristata by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
