Purple Coneflower: Echinacea purpurea: Asteraceae
Purple Coneflower © RSWacha, 1998
Description:
Flowering heads have strikingly purple to lavender ray flowers, surrounding a central cluster of reddish-purple disc flowers. Involucral bracts are lance-shaped and green, and have small hairs along their margins. Flowering heads are usually solitary, at the end of the stem. Leaves are individually attached and well spaced. The leaves are broadly lance-shaped to ovate, and, typically, join the stem by a winged petiole. The leaves may appear slightly recurved as they taper toward their pointed end. Leaf margins have small, uniformly-sized teeth, that angle slightly toward the leaf tip. The stem is slightly rough, especially near the upper part. Echinacea purpurea differs from E. pallida in having ray flowers that are broader and more richly colored. The species blooms from July through September, in prairies and prairie plantings. Native to N. A.