Botanical name: Gaillardia pulchella
Blanket Flower, Firewheel, Indian blanket is a short-lived annual flowering plant native to the central United States. The branching stem of this plant is hairy and upright, growing to 2 ft tall. The leaves are alternate, mostly basal, 4-8 cm long, with edges smooth to coarsely toothed or lobed. The pinwheel, daisy-like inflorescences are 4-6 cm diameter, vividly colored with red, orange and yellow. The central disc florets of the flowerhead tend to be more red-violet, with the outer ray florets being yellow. In one variety, almost the entire flower is red, with only the barest tips of the pedals touched with yellow. When planted as border or as bed it gives a wonderful feel to the onlooker. We had this plant when we were in Bangalore 10 years ago. Recently i visited Lalbagh on 25th January 2012,in connection with Annual flower show coinciding the Republic day and took this photograph.
