Echinacea

Botanical name: Echinacea purpurea and Echinacea angustifolia
Native origin: North America
Part used: Flower, leaves, and root

Echinacea, or purple coneflower, is a drought-tolerant perennial herb that grows a 2 to 5 foot stem, topped with a single daisy-like purple flower. The center of the flower is large, spiny, and cone-shaped, giving echinacea its distinctive look. This look helped earn echinacea its name, derived from the Greek word ekhinos, meaning spiny, prickly, hedgehog or sea urchin. Often favored in decorative gardens for its elegance, this pretty plant is also one of the most studied and well-loved herbs in herbalism. One of echinacea’s distinguishing characteristics is the presence of alkylamides, which help stimulate the immune system and provide a strong boost that will have you feeling good as new in no time.

Did you know? Echinacea flower heads are actually hundreds of flowers all packed together. Each purple petal is actually a complete flower with all the reproductive parts and there are many complete flowers in the “cone”.

Some of our favorite Echinacea comes from the good folks at Trout Lake Farm in Washington State. They were one of the pioneers in the development of the organic movement.