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[title size=”2″]Purple Coneflower[/title]

The purple coneflower is a perennial plant that can be found in the Midwestern and southeastern United States including the Ozarks. The purple coneflower is a beautiful flower that blooms from June to September. The best time to find this flower in bloom is from late June to late July. They prefer being positioned in full sunlight and dry to medium soil conditions. The purple coneflower is highly resilient and can survive drought, variations in temperature and imperfect soil conditions. The petals bloom a beautiful lavender to deep purple color atop a long smooth stem that can reach lengths between two and five feet. Its dark green leaves are lance shaped and coarse. Each stem holds a single flower with droopy petals and a large spiny center that is brownish in color. The purple coneflower’s scientific name Echinacea purpurea refers to this spiny center from the Greek word echinos, meaning sea urchin or hedgehog. These flowers have a variety of uses, functioning as simple garden plants while also offering medicinal remedies. Purple coneflower has been used in herbal teas, which are purported to strengthen the immune system. Furthermore, it was once used to treat bee stings, headaches, toothaches and rattlesnake bites by various Native American tribes including the Plains Indians.

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Echinacea purpurea

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