Purple Coneflower (Plants of the Middle Rio Grande Bosque)

Purple Coneflower

Echinacea purpurea

Summary ⁸

Echinacea purpurea is very beautiful purple coneflower and herb used for a variety of ailments.

Botanical Information ⁹

Echinacea purpurea is more often found in the gardens of New Mexico than in the wild. Its native range is central and eastern North America. It is part of the Asteraceae, or daisy family. Other names include: snakeroot, narrow-leaved purple coneflower, scurvy root, Indian head, comb flower, black susans, and hedge hog (2).

There are nine species of Echinacea but the most common is Echinacea purpurea (1). Its genus name comes from the Greek word echinos meaning "hedgehog" or "sea urchin" (1). To me, the seed pod head looks like a space ship flying upwards into the sun, with purple or pink petals like flames flying behind it. When I saw it in October in El Jardin de la Curandera in the Albuquerque BioPark, it looked like a brown spiked club standing among its still green, heart-shaped leaves (See photo). It grows 2-4 feet high and has a fibrous root. All other Echinacea have tap roots (1). The whole plant is harvested about 6 inches above ground, or the root is dug in the fall of the 2nd or 4th year (1).

Ecological Information ⁸

It likes well-drained soil and full sun but will do well in part-shade (1).

Ethnobotanical Information ⁸

Echinacea purpurea was native exclusively to North America (1), and used by Plains Indians for medicinal reasons including toothache, coughs, colds, sore throats, and snake bites (2). Some Native Americans used the spiny seed head as a hair comb! (3) When doctors were too far away, many Spanish settlers would go to a curandera (folk healer) and she would treat them with herbs including Echinacea. In the late 1800s, "Eclectic" American doctors began using it for skin and respiratory infections (1). In the 1930s, it became popular in Europe, especially in Germany (1).

Echinacea is one of the most studied herbs today (1). People believe that it can help with a common cold and flu and strengthens the body's immune system. It can be made into a tea, tincture, capsule, or salve. Here is one easy tea recipe from a book I read: "Steep 1-2 teaspoons of Echinacea leaf/flower in 1 cup of boiling water, or boil 1 teaspoon of root in 1-2 cups of water for 10 minutes (1)."
Echinacea tastes bitter but otherwise I highly recommend it for the common cold. I recently used store-bought capsules and I think they helped!

References ⁸

Johnson, Rebecca L., et al., National Geographic Guide to Medicinal Herbs.
Washington, D.C: National Geographic Society. 2012. 65-69.
U.S. Department of Agriculture. "Eastern Purple Coneflower".
Washington, D.C.: 2015 http://plants.usda.gov/plantguide/pdf/cs_ecpu.pdf
Upton, Roy. Echinacea.
New Canaan: Keats Publishing, inc. 1997. 7-16.

About the Author ⁸

Student author(s)*: Tas (age 10) from the Homeschool Science Coop

*The entries in this field guide have been edited by Yerba Mansa Project staff to ensure that they contain quality, fact-checked content and standardized formatting.

Sources and Credits

(c) Virginia (Ginny) Sanderson, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), http://www.flickr.com/photos/vsanderson/4710035605/
(c) Blondinrikard Fröberg, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://www.flickr.com/photos/blondinrikard/50269211936/
(c) Monteregina (Nicole), some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/monteregina/48611873212/
(c) David Midgley, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), https://www.flickr.com/photos/petrichor/87464764/
(c) Joshua Mayer, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/wackybadger/25715171423/
(c) Thomas Cizauskas, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), https://www.flickr.com/photos/cizauskas/49912750038/
(c) smiller33, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
Adapted by smiller33 from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echinacea_purpurea

More Info

Range Map

iNat Map

Color	purple
Uses	medicinal
Type	herb

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