Purple Coneflower

Like Coneflower, other members of the Aster family include Black-Eyed Susan, Chamomile, Fringed Aster, Goldenrod, Ox-eye daisy, Sage, Smooth Aster, and Yarrow.

Often cultivated, purple cone flower is a showy, easily grown garden plant.  The name is from Greek enchino meaning hedgehog, an allusion to the spiny, brownish central disk (Carey & Avent, 2012). 

Purple coneflower is one of the most widely used plants by Indigenous people of the plains.  Today, it's been made into over 300 pharmeceutical products (Foster & Duke, p. 266).  Indigenous people including the Lakota used Echinacea for over 400 years (Carey & Avent, 2012). 

The root was usually mashed or poulticed, but could also be made into tea.  The root treats scarlet fever, syphilis, malaria, blood poisoning, and diptheria (Carey & Avent, 2012) as well as for snake bites, spider bites, toothache, cancers, burns, colds, and the flu (Foster & Duke, p. 266).

The flowers of Echinacea are used to make an exrememly popular herbal tea.  The above-ground parts of the plant, as well as the root, help your white blood cells to attack foreign particles, which is why this plant is used to reduce the length and severity of cold symtoms and help strengthen the immune system (Foster & Duke, p. 266).