Campbell, J.J.N. and W.R. Seymour, Jr. 2013. Towards a revision of the Rudbeckia fulgida complex (Asteraceae), with description of a new species from the blacklands of southern USA. Phytoneuron 2013-90: 1–27. Published 22 November 2013. ISSN 2153 733X TOWARDS A REVISION OF THE RUDBECKIA FULGIDA COMPLEX (ASTERACEAE), WITH DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES FROM THE BLACKLANDS OF SOUTHERN USA J.J.N. CAMPBELL Bluegrass Woodland Restoration Center 3525 Willowood Road Lexington, Kentucky 40517
[email protected] W.R. SEYMOUR , JR. Roundstone Native Seed Inc. 9764 Raider Hollow Road Upton, Kentucky 42784-9216 ABSTRACT Taxonomy of the Rudbeckia fulgida Ait. complex is reviewed, resulting in description of a new species, Rudbeckia terranigrae J.J.N. Campbell & Seymour, sp. nov. , and notes on other poorly understood taxa. This species is known mostly from the Black Belt and Jackson Prairie regions of Alabama and Mississippi. However, it appears closely related to a few outlying collections from southwest Missouri and central Texas, plus a larger group of collections centered in the cedar glade region of Tennessee, which could include another undescribed species. Rudbeckia terranigrae and these other plants are southern relatives of previously described taxa with more central or northern ranges in eastern states, especially R. tenax and R. speciosa sensu stricto. Appropriate taxonomic treatment for all of these plants remains uncertain, but their morphology and biogeography suggests that they should not be simply combined with R. fulgida sensu stricto, which is largely restricted to southern Appalachian regions, the Piedmont, and mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain. They all produce stoloniferous offsets after flowering, their paleae are generally eciliate or weakly ciliate at apices, and they tend to occur on calcareous substrates.