Rudbeckias are in the same family as Sunflowers, but this particular genus is unique to North America. There are many different species and subspecies ( hirta, fulgida, lacinata, nitida, subtomentosa) that have a range throughout the United States and Canada. The dark-eyed beauties with cheerful yellow collars must have been quite the surprise for the early colonists, especially the more puritanical settlers. It was the English who gave these flowers the moniker "Susan", though why that particular name won out is unclear.

An Old English poet, John Gay (1685-1732) wrote the ballad "Sweet William's Farewell to Black-eyed Susan" in the early 18th century. The first stanza goes:

"All in the Downs the fleet was moored,

The streamers waving in the wind,

When black-eyed Susan came aboard;

Oh, where shall I my true love find!

Tell me, jovial sailors, tell me true,

If my sweet William sails among the crew"

So this girl with dark eyes, named, Susan, is looking for her sailor, Sweet William. The poem continues for several more stanza, with William rushing to her side with kisses and assurances of his faithfulness and love, that she shouldn't believe the stories of sailors with mistresses in every port.

"Though battle call me from thy arms,

Let not my pretty Susan mourn;

Though cannons roar, yet safe from harms,

William shall to his dear return.

Love turns aside the balls that round me fly,

Lest precious tears should drop from Susan's eye."

One could also explain the poem in this way: Sweet William is a common English garden plant. Black-eyed Susan is part of the new world. Planted together, they bloom at the same time in the garden, and though Sweet William plants may not survive the winter, they seeds will sprout and join Susan again the following summer.