Gaillardia

Gaillardia /ɡeɪˈlɑːrdiə/[3] (common name blanket flower)[4] is a genus of flowering plants in the sunflower family, Asteraceae, native to North and South America. It was named after Maître Gaillard de Charentonneau,[5][6] an 18th-century French magistrate who was an enthusiastic botanist. The common name may refer to the resemblance of the inflorescence to the brightly patterned blankets made by Native Americans, or to the ability of wild taxa to blanket the ground with colonies.[7] Many cultivars have been bred for ornamental use.

These are annual or perennial herbs or subshrubs, sometimes with rhizomes. The stem is usually branching and erect to a maximum height around 80 centimeters (31.5 inches). The leaves are alternately arranged. Some taxa have only basal leaves. They vary in shape. They are glandular in most species. The inflorescence is a solitary flower head. The head can have 15 or more ray florets, while some taxa lack any ray florets. They can be almost any shade of yellow, orange, red, purplish, brown, white, or bicolored. They are sometimes rolled into a funnel shape. There are many tubular disc florets at the center of the head in a similar range of colors, and usually tipped with hairs. The fruit usually has a pappus of scales.[8]

Gaillardia species are used as food plants by the caterpillars of some Lepidoptera species, including Schinia bina (which has been recorded on G. pulchella), Schinia masoni (which feeds exclusively on G. aristata) and Schinia volupia (which feeds exclusively on G. pulchella).

The school colors of Texas State University are maroon and old gold, a combination inspired by the gaillardia.[9]