The Genus Echinacea
Coneflower
Family: Asteraceae
There are 10 recognized species of coneflowers which are found only in eastern and central North America, where they grow in moist to dry prairies and open wooded areas. They have large, showy heads of composite flowers, blooming in summer. The generic name is derived from the Greek word ἐχῖνος (ekhinos), meaning hedgehog or sea urchin, due to the spiny central disk.
Echinacea species are used by many pollinators for their nectar, and are larval host plant for the Silvery Checkerspot butterfly and Wavy-lined Emerald moth. Cardinals and goldfinches enjoy eating the seeds from spent flowers.
These plants are used medicinally by many people.
Echinacea angustifolia
Narrow-Leaved Purple Coneflower
Compared to other species of Echinacea, this is a small coneflower that grows 1-2’ tall on rigid, upright, hairy stems clad with narrow, lanceeolate to ovate green leaves (to 4-6” long). Flowers (to 3” diameter) feature light pink to pale purple rays that spread outward and usually droop. Orange-brown center cones. Flowers bloom in June and July, sometimes with sporadic continued bloom throughout the summer.
Grow in full to part sun, afternoon shade in the low desert isn’t a bad idea. Provide regular water. Hardy to -30°F.
The generic name is derived from the Greek word ἐχῖνος (ekhinos), meaning hedgehog or sea urchin, due to the spiny central disk. The species name, angustifolia, means narrow leaf, referring to the leaf shape in comparison with other species of echinacea.
Echinacea angustifolia is the most widely used medicinal plant of the Plains Indians. It is used as a painkiller and for a variety of ailments, including toothache, coughs, colds, sore throats, and snake bite. Echinacea angustifolia is used as an analgesic by the Cheyenne, the Dakota, the Fox, and the Winnebago. This species is also used as an antidote for poisonous conditions, snake bite, and other poisonous bites by the Winnebago, Ponca, Pawnee, Omaha, Dakota, and by most Montana tribes. The root is used to relieve toothache by the Dakota, Omaha, Pawnee, Ponca, Teton Sioux, and Winnebago. The Cheyenne chew the root to stimulate the flow of saliva, which was especially useful for Sun Dance participants as a thirst preventative. A wash is used as a dressing for burns to relieve pain by the Dakota, Winnebago, Omaha, Pawnee, and Ponca.
This species grows in the drier parts of the tallgrass prairie, the mixed grass prairie, and the shortgrass prairie in North America, in a range of soils from rocky to sandy-clay. Its range extends from Texas into Canada and from the Rocky Mountains into Kentucky.
Echinacea purpurea
Purple Coneflower
A popular perennial with smooth, 2-4 ft. stems and long-lasting, lavender flowers—plants tend to be shorter in the low desert. Rough, scattered leaves that become small toward the top of the stem. Flowers occur singly atop the stems and have domed, purplish-brown, spiny centers and drooping, lavender rays that often droop downward.
Plant in full to part sun, though plants in afternoon shade in summer will probably be happier. Provide regular water and emended soil. Hardy to well below 0°F.
This species was and still is a widely used medicinal plant of the Plains Indians. It is used as a painkiller and for a variety of ailments, including toothache, coughs, colds, sore throats, and snake bite. The Choctaw use purple coneflower as a cough medicine and gastro-intestinal aid. The Delaware use an infusion of coneflower root for gonorrhea and find it to be highly effective. The purple coneflower is the only native prairie plant popularized as a medicine by folk practitioners and doctors. It is used extensively as a folk remedy, adopted by early settlers as an aid in nearly every kind of sickness. If a cow or a horse did not eat well, people administered Echinacea in its feed.
The generic name is derived from the Greek word ἐχῖνος (ekhinos), meaning hedgehog or sea urchin, due to the spiny central disk. The species name, purpurea means 'reddish-purple' referring to the flowers.
The purple coneflower grows in rocky prairie sites in open, wooded regions. Echinacea purpurea extends eastward through the Great Plains bioregion from northeast Texas, Missouri, and Michigan.