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Sochan is the Cherokee name for Rudbeckia laciniata, an herbaceous wildflower with significant cultural value to Indigenous communities throughout North America, and has several other names in other Indigenous languages. In fact, Sochan grows wild in most of the continental US and Canada. If you are interested in more information, we strongly recommend looking into your local tribal resources for information on the cultural history and culinary preparation of this amazing foodplant. The plants we offer at our nursery are intended for landscape purposes - we grow all our plants from seed at our nursery and do not use pesticides of any kind. These plants are descended from a wild population in Ashe County, NC.
Similar to other Rudbeckia species like Black-eyed Susans, Sochan has yellow flowers with a distinct “cone” center, in this case starting off as a bright green before fading to yellow before going to seed, thus leading to other common names like Green-headed Coneflower and Cutleaf Coneflower. The flowers are long-lasting, appearing as early as July and as late as October. Sochan is a very fast growing perennial, producing large “cut” leaves and deep fibrous roots. It can tolerate dry and sunny conditions once established, but tends to do best in Part-sun in moist to average soils. Typically plants may only reach 3 to 5 feet in height, but some plants can grow much taller. Sochan also can reseed easily in the right conditions, so plant with care. The seeds are very popular with songbirds, however, so we typically avoid dead-heading ours.
Like other Rudbeckia species, Sochan is a very valuable plant for wildlife. The large, open flowers attract a wide range of bees and other beneficial insect pollinators, including very beneficial predators, and 25+ different species of specialist bees that only feed on a narrow range of flower genera. The seeds and leaves are also very nutritious, attracting mammalian herbivores and caterpillars of moths and butterflies - a great food source for baby birds. Finally, even the stems can be left alone after flowering - the hollow cavities are used by some bees to build overwinter nests for their young.
Pollinators: bumblebees, cellophane bees, fairy bees, leafcutter bees, long-horned bees, mason bees, miner bees, resin bees, sweat bees, butterflies, moths, bee flies, flower flies, soldier beetles, fly hunter wasps, grass-carrying wasps, mason wasps, mud dauber wasps, sand wasps, scoliid wasps, square-headed wasps, thread-waisted wasps, thynnid flower wasps
Host Plant for Butterflies/Moths: 18+ Lepidoptera species in our region, including the Silvery Checkerspot Butterfly (Chlosyne nycteis)
Dependent Species: 25 species of oligolectic bees - Andrena rudbeckiae only feeds on Rudbeckia species in North Carolina; 3 species of moths in our region only feed on Rudbeckia - Coneflower Borer (Papaipema nelita), Gray-blotched Epiblema (Epiblema carolinana), Epiblema tandana
Wildlife Value: Songbirds, Thrushes, Wood Warblers, shelter, winter cover
Deer Resistance: Moderate
Native Region: Appalachian Mountains, Piedmont, Coastal Plain
Seed Origin: Ashe County, NC
Ecoregion: 66 - Blue Ridge
Light Recommendation: Full Sun, Part Sun, Dappled Shade
Soil Moisture Recommendation: Moist, Medium
USDA Zones: 3-9
States found in our region: AL, DE, GA, KY, MD, NC, PA, SC, TN, VA, WV
Other states found: AR, AZ, CO, CT, FL, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, MA, ME, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NY, ND, OH, OK, RI, SD, TX, UT, VT, WI, WY
