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• Echinacea purpurea

Echinacea purpurea — eastern purple coneflower

Facts

With a primarily Southeastern and Midwestern distribution in the United States, eastern purple coneflower's range does not include New England. It is, however, popular as a native garden plant and medicinal herb, and is likely to escape occasionally from cultivation.

Habitat

Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), forest edges, meadows and fields

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Bases of bract appendages

  NA

  Bract color

  the bracts are not colored or tinged with pink, red or purple

  Bract cycle number

  • there are three or more cycles of bracts
  • there are two main cycles of bracts

  Bract outer side hair type

  • the bracts are hairy, with simple hairs on their outer surface
  • the bracts are not hairy on their outer surface

  Bract outer side hairs

  • the bracts are hairy on their outer surfaces
  • the bracts are not hairy on their outer surfaces

  Bract shape

  • the main bracts are lanceolate (widest above the base, then taper narrowly towards the tip)
  • the main bracts are linear (long and very narrow)

  Bract spines

  the bracts have no spines

  Bract texture

  the bracts have a similar texture to a leaf

  Bract tip color

  the tips are the same color as the center of the bract

  Bract tip extension appearance

  NA

  Bract tip extension edge

  NA

  Bract tip orientation

  the tips of the bracts curve outwards and downwards from the plant

  Bract tip shape

  the tips of the bracts are acuminate (tapered to a narrow point)

  Bract width

  1–8

  Bracts

  the bracts in separate cycles are similar or gradually changing from the outer to inner cycles

  Disk flower color

  • blue to purple
  • green to brown
  • pink to red

  Disk flower lobe number

  5

  Disk flower number

  more than 50

  Disk flower reproductive parts

  the disk flower has both pollen- and seed-producing parts

  Disk flower shape

  the disk flower is tube-shaped (cylindrical), or gradually widening like a funnel

  Disk width

  1.5–3.5 mm

  Flower head number

  each flowering stem has only one to three flower heads on it

  Flower head outer flowers

  at the outer edge of the flower head, each flower has a single enlarged lobe or strap

  Flower head platform

  the base has papery scales on it

  Flower head position

  each of the flower heads is separate on its own peduncle (stalk), not clustered in groups

  Flower head profile

  the disk is conical across the top

  Flower head width

  75–195 mm

  Flower type in flower heads

  the flower head has tubular disk flowers in the center and ray flowers, these often strap-shaped, around the periphery

  Inflorescence branching (Solidago)

  NA

  Inflorescence shape

  NA

  Number of bracts at flower head base

  15–50

  Ovary cross-section

  the ovary has five or more corners in cross-section

  Ovary hair type

  • the ovary has hairs on it, but the hairs have no glands
  • the ovary has no hairs on it

  Ovary hairs

  • the ovary has hairs on it
  • the ovary has no hairs on it

  Ovary surface

  • the ovary surface has no points, bumps or wrinkles, though it may have lines, ribs or wings
  • the ovary surface is textured with tiny points, bumps or wrinkles

  Peduncle hair type

  the hairs on the peduncles are simple (not branched), don’t have glands, and are not woolly

  Peduncle hairs

  the peduncles are hairy

  Peduncle length

  8–25 mm

  Ray flower color

  • blue to purple
  • pink to red

  Ray flower reproductive parts

  the ray flowers have carpels or stamens, but not both

  Ray flowers

  • 11-15
  • 16-25
  • 6-10

  Ray length

  30–80 mm

  Reproductive system

  some of the flowers on the plant have only carpels or stamens, while others have both carpels and stamens

  Scale tip

  the scales are acuminate (taper to a very narrow point) or aristate (tipped with a slender bristle)

  Smaller bracts at base of bracts

  there is no smaller, outer cycle of bracts

  Style branch number

  the style has two branches

  Style branches

  the style branch is narrow at the tip, or the style branches are narrow at the tips

  Width of flower head base

  12–40 mm

• Fruits or seeds

  Number of pappus parts

  1

  Ovary length in developed fruit

  3.5–5 mm

  Seed hair tuft bases

  NA

  Seed hair tuft color

  NA

  Seed hair tuft details

  NA

  Seed hair tuft length

  1.2 mm

  Seed hair tuft tips

  NA

  Seed hairs uniform

  NA

  Seed tuft scale number

  0–4

  Seed tuft type

  the pappus is made of a circle or rim of lobes or teeth on the ovary

  Top of disk flower ovary

  NA

  Tuft or plume on fruit

  there is no plume, or the plume is made up of scales, awns, a crown, or a rim

• Glands or sap

  Sap

  the sap is clear and watery

• Growth form

  Growth form

  the plant has one or more free-standing stems

  Plant lifespan

  the plant is perennial, it shows evidence of previous year's leaves, stems or stem bases

  Spines on plant

  the plant has no spines

  Underground organs

  there are only slender roots on the plant

• Leaves

  Final leaf segment length (compound lvs only)

  0 mm

  Final leaf segment width (compound lvs only)

  0 mm

  Hairs on underside of leaf blade

  the underside of the leaf is fuzzy or hairy

  Hairs on upper side of leaf blade

  the upper side of the leaf is fuzzy or hairy

  Leaf arrangement

  alternate: there is one leaf per node along the stem

  Leaf blade base

  the leaf has a distinct petiole

  Leaf blade base shape

  • the base of the leaf blade is rounded
  • the base of the leaf is cordate (heart-shaped) or sagittate (arrow-shaped)

  Leaf blade edges

  • the edge of the leaf blade has no teeth or lobes
  • the edge of the leaf blade has teeth

  Leaf blade flatness

  the leaf is flat (planar) at the edges

  Leaf blade hairs

  the leaf blade has simple hairs with no glands, and not tangled or wooly

  Leaf blade length

  50–300 mm

  Leaf blade shape

  • the leaf blade is elliptic (widest near the middle and tapering at both ends)
  • the leaf blade is lanceolate (lance-shaped; widest below the middle and tapering at both ends)
  • the leaf blade is ovate (widest below the middle and broadly tapering at both ends)

  Leaf blade surface colors

  there is no noticeable color variation on the upper surface of the leaf

  Leaf blade tip

  the tip of the leaf blade is acute (sharply pointed)

  Leaf blade veins

  the leaf blade has three main veins running from the base towards the tip

  Leaf blade width

  10–120 mm

  Leaf disposition

  • the leaves are nearly similar in size, prominence of teeth, and length of stalks throughout the stem
  • the lower leaves are larger, toothier, and/or on longer stalks than the upper leaves

  Leaf spines

  there are no spines on the leaf edges

  Leaf stalk

  the leaves have leaf stalks

  Leaf stalk length

  0–25 mm

  Leaf tip extension

  NA

  Leaf tufts in axils

  there are no clusters of smaller leaves

  Leaf type

  leaves are simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets)

  Leaflet number

  0

  Specific leaf type

  the leaves are simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets

• Place

  Habitat

  terrestrial

  New England state

  • Massachusetts
  • Vermont

  Specific habitat

  • edges of forests
  • man-made or disturbed habitats
  • meadows or fields

• Scent

  Plant odor

  the plant does not have much of an odor

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Flowering stem cross-section

  the flowering stem is circular, or with lots of small angles

  Leaves on stem

  there is at least one full leaf above the base of the flowering stem

  Stem internode hair direction

  the hairs point mostly upwards to outwards

  Stem internode hair length

  Up to 2 mm

  Stem internode hair type

  the hairs on the stem are plain, without glands or branches, and not tangled

  Stem internode hairs

  the stem has hairs between the nodes

  Stem wings

  the stem does not have wings on it

Wetland status

Not classified

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae