Rudbeckia subg. Macrocline subg. nov. includes three species complexes: the first comprises the three species of rayless coneflowers (R. alpicola, R. montana, and R. occidentalis); the second contains six radiate species with distributions in the southeastern United States (R. auriculata, R. maxima, R. mohrii, R. nitida, R. scabrifolia, and R. texana); and the third includes the three radiate species restricted to California and Oregon (R. californica, R. glaucescens, and R. klamathensis nom. nov.). The taxa of R. subg. Macrocline are characterized by strongly cone-shaped receptacles, bright yellow ray corollas, ray florets lacking paleae (ray flowers absent in three species), glaucous stems, persistent basal leaves, disk paleae not surpassing the achenes, foliaceous involucral bracts in two or more series, a chromosome complement of n = 18, and distributions in the southeastern and western United States. Descriptions of each taxon and a taxonomic key for the subgenus is provided.