This native prairie biennial forms a rosette of leaves the first year, followed by flowers the second year. The flower of the Black-eyed Susan is a showy composite. Its like a daisy except it has yellow "petals" and a brown button. It is one of my personal favorites. The black-eyed Susan sits on a slender bristly stalk. It likes dry waste places where nothing much else will grow; often it can be spotted along the road side growing in sandy soil. State flower of Maryland.