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Echinacea (Greek, echinos, hedgehog; alluding to the sharp-pointed bracts of the receptacle). Compositae. Purple Cone-flower. Perennial stout herbs, more or less grown in the border or wild garden.
Closely related to Rudbeckia, but rays ranging from flesh-color, through rose, to purple and crimson (one species, not in the trade, has fls. yellow to red), while those of Rudbeckia are yellow or partly (rarely wholly) brown-purple: the high disk and the downward angle at which the rays are pointed are features of echinaceas; the disk is only convex at first, but becomes egg-shaped, and the receptacle conical, while Rudbeckia has a greater range, the disk from globose to columnar, and the receptacle from conical to cylindrical; heads many- fld., mostly large; disk-fls. fertile, rays pistillate but sterile; pappus a small-toothed border or crown: sts. long and strong, nearly leafless above, terminated by a single head.—Five species in N. Amer., 2 of them from Mex., the others native to the U. S. By some treated as a section of Rudbeckia; by others now called Brauneria, which is an older name.
Echinaceas and rudbeckias are stout, and perhaps a little coarse in appearance, but their flower 1-heads, sometimes 6 inches across, are very attractive, and borne in succession for two months or more of late summer. With the growing appreciation of hardy borders and of native plants, it should be possible to procure four or five distinct colors in the flower, associated with low, medium and tall-growing habits. They do well in ordinary soils, and may be used to help cover unusually dry and exposed spots.
They respond well to rich soil, especially sandy loam, and prefer warm and sunny sites. They are perennials of easy culture. Propagated by division, though not too frequently; sometimes by seeds. The roots of E. angustifolia are black, pungent-tasted, and are included in the United States pharmacopoea as the source of an oleo-resin.
A dealer advertises (1912) a "red sunflower" obtained by crossing a species of Echinacea with Helianthus multiflorus. It is described as 5-6 ft. high, with fig. 4-7 in. diam., red. See Helianthus. N. Taylor.
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:''This article is about the flowering plant. For Superorder Echinacea (Echinodermata) see [[Sea urchin]]''
:''This article is about the flowering plant. For Superorder Echinacea (Echinodermata) see [[Sea urchin]]''
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