Blanket Flower

Gaillardia aristata

Blanket Flower (Gaillardia aristata) is a short-lived native perennial of the sunflower family, with large flower heads that have a domed, red-purple center and rays that are red at the base and yellow at the tips. It blooms from late June through August in sunny meadows and on open slopes, most often on the limestone plateau of the western Black Hills, and is listed at Jewel Cave and Wind Cave.

Free photos from other sources

Blanket Flower: Flower head with red-and-yellow rays around a maroon center — Blanket flower. Black Hills National Forest (photo by Chelsea Monks, USDA Forest Service/Black Hills National Forest), Public Domain. Get it at the source

Blanket Flower: Yellow-rayed heads with red rings scattered through prairie grass — Blanket Flower. USFWS Mountain-Prairie (Photo Credit: Char Binstock/USFWS), CC BY 2.0, resized. Get it at the source

Blanket Flower: Clump of flowering stems, each with a single head — Gaillardia aristata. Matt Lavin, CC BY-SA 2.0, resized. Get it at the source

Blanket Flower: Lance-shaped, rough-hairy leaves on the lower stem — Gaillardia aristata. Matt Lavin, CC BY-SA 2.0, resized. Get it at the source

Blanket Flower: Underside of the head, showing the ring of narrow, hairy bracts — Gaillardia aristata. Matt Lavin, CC BY-SA 2.0, resized. Get it at the source

Blanket Flower: Round, bristly seed head after the rays have dropped — Gaillardia aristata. Matt Lavin, CC BY-SA 2.0, resized. Get it at the source

Quick facts
Family	Asteraceae · Aster
Status	Native perennial
Blooms	Late June into August, with a few into September
Height	20–80 cm (8–31 in)
Where	Sunny meadows, prairie, open pine parks, rocky slopes and roadsides, especially on the limestone plateau
Also called	Gaillardia, Common Blanketflower, Common Gaillardia, Great Blanket-flower
Synonym	Gaillardia hallii
Traditional use	The Botanical Research Institute of Texas ethnobotany database, citing Hellson’s 1974 study of the Blackfoot, says the Blackfoot rubbed the flower heads on rawhide bags to waterproof them, drank a root tea for stomach trouble, put a poultice of chewed or powdered root on skin disorders, and rubbed root tea on horses' saddle sores.

Roots, seeds & germination

Root: A tapering taproot with many fibrous side roots near the surface, reaching at least about 40 cm (16 in) deep. Plants are short-lived, often only a few years, and keep a stand going by seeding heavily.

Seed: Hairy achenes about 3–6 mm (⅛–¼ in) long, each with a crown of 6–10 papery scales that end in long bristles. A ripe head becomes a pale, fuzzy, bristly ball, and the seed ripens in August.

Germination: An easy seed. The USDA plant guide says it needs no cold treatment, and sprouts appear in 5–7 days. The seed needs light, so it is sown shallow, no deeper than 6–12 mm (¼–½ in), in spring or fall.

How do you identify Blanket Flower?

Look for one head, 4–8 cm (1½–3 in) across, at the top of each long, hairy stalk with few leaves. The 6–18 rays have three teeth at the tip and are usually yellow with a red-purple band at the base, though on some plants the red runs most of the way out. The center is a fuzzy, domed disk of maroon florets, and the grayish, rough-hairy leaves are mostly in a clump at the base. Gaillardia pulchella, an annual from roadside seed mixes, looks red from a distance, with only narrow yellow ray tips, and is a bushy, branched plant with many smaller heads, leaves up the stem and no clump of leaves at the base. After bloom the head turns into a round, bristly, straw-colored ball of seeds.

When does it bloom?

Late June into August, with a few into September.

Where does it grow?

Sun on dry to moist, well-drained soil in meadows, mixed-grass prairie, open ponderosa pine parks, rocky and south-facing slopes, and roadsides. It does well after fire and light disturbance. In the Black Hills it is most common on the high limestone plateau of the western Hills and also grows down into the foothills, from about 1,000 to 2,000 m (3,300–6,560 ft). The 1986 Jewel Cave survey and the Wind Cave species list include it, and herbarium specimens since 1912 come from Lawrence, Pennington, Custer, Meade and Fall River counties, SD, and Crook and Weston counties, WY.