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Asteraceae FAMILY

Echinacea purpurea

Echinacea purpurea

Edibility
1/5
Medicinal
5/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitPerennial
Growth—

Echinacea purpurea is very cold hardy, tolerating winter temperatures down to around -15 to -20°c[1]. Prefers a sunny position, but tolerant of partial shade[2, 1]. Prefers a deep rich loam with plenty of leafmold[3] , but tolerant of poor, dry soils[1]. Established plants are somewhat drought tolerant[4, 1, 5]. Prefers a good light soil[6]. Prefers a pH in the range 6.5 - 7.2[5]. A very ornamental plant, there are some named varieties[6]. The plant is grown on a commercial basis as a medicinal herb[7]. Yields for cultivated, dried roots of three-year-old Echinacea purpurea grown at Trout Lake, Washington, were 131 kilos per hectare (1,200 lbs/acre)[5]. The maths here converting from metric to imperial weights is wrong by a factor of 10 - 1,200lb per acre is equivalent to 1,310 kilos[PFAF]. A mature two-year old Echinacea purpurea plant yields 1 kilo of fresh flowering aerial portions and 450g of fresh root per plant[5]. Slugs love this plant[PFAF].

Propagation

Seed - sow early to mid spring in a greenhouse and only just cover the seed[2, PFAF]. Diurnal temperature fluctuations aid germination[2]. The seed usually germinates in 10 - 21 days at 25°c[2]. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots once they are large enough to handle and grow them on in the greenhouse for the first summer. Plant them out in the late spring or early summer of the following year and give them some protection from slugs at least until they are established[PFAF]. Division in spring or autumn[8]. Larger clumps can be replanted direct into their permanent positions, though it is best to pot up smaller clumps and grow them on in a cold frame until they are rooting well. Plant them out in the spring. Root cuttings, early autumn in a frame[1]. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Echinacea+purpurea>

Pollinators

Insects

References

  1. [1]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  2. [2]Focus on Plants. Volume 5. (formerly 'Growing from seed') — Bird. R. (Editor) · Thompson and Morgan. · 1991 · ISBN - ↩︎Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation. A good article on Corydalis spp.
  3. [3]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  4. [4]Wonder Crops. 1987. — Natural Food Institute, ↩︎Fascinating reading, this is an annual publication. Some reports do seem somewhat exaggerated though.
  5. [5]Plants Database — United States Department of Agriculture · http://plants.usda.gov/java/factSheet ↩︎An online database with an excellent collection of fact sheets about native N. American plants.
  6. [6]Perennials. Volumes 1 and 2. — Phillips. R. & Rix. M. · Pan Books · 1991 · ISBN 0-330-30936-9 ↩︎Photographs of over 3,000 species and cultivars of ornamental plants together with brief cultivation notes, details of habitat etc.
  7. [7]Flora of N. America — http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/fna/ ↩︎An on-line version of the flora with an excellent description of the plant including a brief mention of plant uses.
  8. [8]Popular Hardy Perennials. — Sanders. T. W. · Collingridge · 1926 · ISBN - ↩︎A fairly wide range of perennial plants that can be grown in Britain and how to grow them.
  9. [9]Gray's Manual of Botany.Eighth Edition — Fernald. M. L. · American Book Co.; New York · 1950 · ISBN 0442222505 ↩︎A bit dated but a good and concise flora of the eastern part of N. America.
  10. [10]Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. — Bown. D. · Dorling Kindersley, London. · 1995 · ISBN 0-7513-020-31 ↩︎A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.
  11. [11]A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and Central N. America. — Foster. S. & Duke. J. A. · Houghton Mifflin Co. · 1990 · ISBN 0395467225 ↩︎A concise book dealing with almost 500 species. A line drawing of each plant is included plus colour photographs of about 100 species. Very good as a field guide, it only gives brief details about the plants medicinal properties.
  12. [12]The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants — Chevallier. A. · Dorling Kindersley. London · 1996 · ISBN 9-780751-303148 ↩︎An excellent guide to over 500 of the more well known medicinal herbs from around the world.
  13. [13]A Modern Herbal. — Grieve. · Penguin · 1984 · ISBN 0-14-046-440-9 ↩︎Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.
  14. [14]The Herb Book. — Lust. J. · Bantam books · 1983 · ISBN 0-553-23827-2 ↩︎Lots of information tightly crammed into a fairly small book.
  15. [15]A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. — Usher. G. · Constable · 1974 · ISBN 0094579202 ↩︎Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.
  16. [16]The Dictionary of Modern Herbalism. — Mills. S. Y. ↩︎An excellent small herbal.
  17. [17]Earth Medicine, Earth Food. — Weiner. M. A. · Ballantine Books · 1980 · ISBN 0-449-90589-6 ↩︎A nice book to read though it is difficult to look up individual plants since the book is divided into separate sections dealing with the different medicinal uses plus a section on edible plants. Common names are used instead of botanical.
  18. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎