Gaillardia plant

Patent Pending Gaillardia /ɡeɪˈlɑrdiə/,[3] the blanket flowers,[4] is a genus of flowering plants in the sunflower family, Asteraceae, native to North and South America. It was named after an M. Gaillard de Charentonneau,[5][6] an 18th-century French magistrate who was a patron of botany. 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.