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| head with disk flowers just beginning to open--do you see why the common name of this plant is Mexican hat? The unopened disk flowers in this image are green. The receptacle in this genus is elongate, creating a conelike disk. Thus Ratibida belongs to the group of composites commonly called coneflowers, along with Echinacea, Rudbeckia, and Dracopis. | another view of the head--in this inflorescence, none of the disk flowers have opened yet |
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| individuals of Ratibida columnifera can have one of two basic ray corolla colors: brown... | ...or yellow! They belong to the same species, despite the difference. |
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| leaf--how would you describe the leaf margin here? | heads with ripening fruits--Mexican hat is easily spotted in fruit, because the "cone" heads turn dark brown, as they are here |
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| developing fruits--each segment is developing into an achene that will break off at maturity | |
