Rudbeckia hirta, commonly called black-eyed-Susan, is a North American species of flowering plants in the sunflower family, native to the Eastern and Central North America and naturalized in the Western part of the continent as well as in China. It has now been found in all 10 Canadian Provinces and all 48 of the states in the contiguous United States. Rudbeckia hirta is the state flower of Maryland. Parts of the plant have nutritional value. Other parts are not edible.