Robust plants produce axillary branches at mid-stem that may be 1½ feet long and overtop the main stem. Stems taper from a ¼-inch-diameter base, before flaring to the receptacle in support of the flowerhead. The pale-green, stout, erect stems to 3+ feet tall are typically hirsute, uncommonly partially or totally glabrous. Photo 2: This 4-year-old (?) plant has 2 dormant “root stubs” (with dead stems still attached), a stub bearing leaves only (with fan-like base) and 3 stubs (with round bases) bearing leaves and a central stem. Growth that does not include a stem is flattened and fan-like and produces basal leaves growth that includes a stem is terete and reproductive, ultimately bearing one or more terminal heads. The root stubs have actively growing crowns with new growth, as well as dormant stems from previous growing seasons. Mature plants develop a central knobby rootstock comprising a clump of shallow “root stubs” supported by fleshy, whitish roots. Photo 1: Showy terminal flowerheads occur singly on main stems and axillary branches. Other common names include Eastern Purple Coneflower and Broad-Leaved Purple Coneflower. Habitat preference is sunny to partially sunny sites on moist, well drained soils of prairies, open woodlands and borders, and rights-of-way. In Arkansas, plants grow statewide except for the lowlands of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain and West Gulf Coastal Plain. In the US, the species is common in Arkansas, Missouri and Indiana with more limited occurrence in surrounding states and from Alabama into New England. The specific epithet is Latin for “purple,” the color of the ray florets. The genus name is derived from a Greek word for “hedgehog” in reference to the spiny bracts that share the receptacle with the ray and disk florets. Purple Coneflower ( Echinacea purpurea) of the Sunflower or Composite (Asteraceae) family is an erect herbaceous perennial with large, showy, terminal flowerheads.

Dark purple coneflower