Echinacea pallida explained

Echinacea pallida, the pale purple coneflower, is a species of herbaceous perennial plant in the family Asteraceae. It is sometimes grown in gardens and used for medicinal purposes. Its native range is the central region of the United States and Ontario, Canada.

Description

Echinacea pallida is similar to E. angustifolia, but plants often grow taller, ranging from 1.5to tall, with some growing 3round=5NaNround=5 or more tall. Plants normally grow with one unbranched stem in the wild, but often produce multi-stemmed clumps in gardens. They have deep taproots that are spindle shaped, wider in the center and narrowing at the ends. Stems are green or mottled with purple and green. The leaves are elongated lanceolate or linear-lanceolate with three veins. Flower head rays are narrow, linear, elongated, and drooping, ranging from 1to long. The flower heads are from NaNto wide with pale rose-purple or nearly white ray florets. The flowers have white pollen. Echinacea pallida blooms from May into July. The fruits are cypselae and are tan or bi-colored with angled edges.^[1]

Distribution

It is found in the Mississippi Valley, the southeastern Great Plains, and the region south of Lake Michigan. Most of the known populations are in the region from southern Wisconsin and Iowa south to Louisiana and eastern Texas, with additional reports (many of them likely from introductions) in the Southeastern United States, New England, New York, Michigan, and Ontario.

Habitat and range

The state of Tennessee lists E. pallida as endangered,^[2] and Wisconsin lists the species as threatened,^[3] mostly due to habitat loss and over-collection of roots, which are made into herbal medicine. The use of Echinacea as a medicinal plant has not been demonstrated to have any positive health effects.^{[4] [5] [6] [7] [8]} It is a larval host to the silvery checkerspot.^[9]

Notes and References

1. Britton, N., & Brown, A. (1913). An illustrated flora of the Northern United States, Canada from Newfoundland to the parallel of the southern boundary of Virginia, and from the Atlantic Ocean westward to the 102nd meridian. [S.l.]: Scribner.
2. Web site: Rare Species by County. Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation. 20 September 2023.
3. Web site: Wisconsin's Endangered and Threatened Species List. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. 20 September 2023. June 2021.
4. Turner RB, Bauer R, Woelkart K, Hulsey TC, Gangemi JD . An evaluation of Echinacea angustifolia in experimental rhinovirus infections . N. Engl. J. Med. . 353 . 4 . 341–8 . July 2005 . 16049208 . 10.1056/NEJMoa044441 . free .
5. 10.1097/00002371-200209000-00005 . Schwarz E, Metzler J, Diedrich JP, Freudenstein J, Bode C, Bode JC . Oral administration of freshly expressed juice of Echinacea purpurea herbs fail to stimulate the nonspecific immune response in healthy young men: results of a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study . J. Immunother. . 25 . 5 . 413–20 . 2002 . 12218779 . 23051179 .
6. Barrett BP, Brown RL, Locken K, Maberry R, Bobula JA, D'Alessio D . Treatment of the common cold with unrefined echinacea. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial . Ann. Intern. Med. . 137 . 12 . 939–46 . December 2002 . 12484708 . 10.1001/archinte.137.7.939.
7. Yale SH, Liu K . Echinacea purpurea therapy for the treatment of the common cold: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial . Arch. Intern. Med. . 164 . 11 . 1237–41 . June 2004 . 15197051 . 10.1001/archinte.164.11.1237 .
8. http://nccih.nih.gov/health/echinacea/#science Echinacea (Echinacea purpurea, Echinacea angustifolia, Echinacea pallida) [NCCIH Herbs at a Glance]
9. The Xerces Society (2016), Gardening for Butterflies: How You Can Attract and Protect Beautiful, Beneficial Insects, Timber Press.