Echinacea pallida

Description

Echinacea pallida is similar to E. angustifolia, but plants often grow taller, ranging from 1.5 to tall, with some growing 3 feet 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 and are concentrated at the base of the stem. Flower head rays are narrow, linear, elongated, and drooping, ranging from 1 to long. The flower heads are from 3/4 to wide with pale rose-purple or nearly white ray florets. The flowers have white pollen. Echinacea pallida blooms from May into July.

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

Echinacea pallida grows in prairies and prairie remnant sites and requires full sun exposure with well-draining soil. While it prefers moist soils, it is drought tolerant due to its long taproot. It is often found next to roads.

The state of Tennessee lists E. pallida as endangered, and Wisconsin lists the species as threatened, 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. It is a larval host to the silvery checkerspot.

Gallery

Echinacea pallida 003.JPG|Flowerhead SeedsEchinaceaeapallida.jpg|Fruits Echinacea.pallida02.jpg|Illustration from Britton and Brown 1913 Echinacea pallida MN 2007.JPG|In cultivation at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum

References

References

1. {{ThePlantList
2. 1
3. 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 west. 102nd meridian]]. [S.l.]: Scribner. {{ISBN. 0-486-22644-1
4. {{BONAP. ref
5. "Pale Purple Coneflower (Echinacea pallida)".
6. "Echinacea pallida (Pale Purple Coneflower) {{!}} North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox".
7. "Rare Species by County". Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation.
8. (June 2021). "Wisconsin's Endangered and Threatened Species List". Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
9. (July 2005). "An evaluation of Echinacea angustifolia in experimental rhinovirus infections". N. Engl. J. Med..
10. (2002). "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..
11. (December 2002). "Treatment of the common cold with unrefined echinacea. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial". Ann. Intern. Med..
12. (June 2004). "''Echinacea purpurea'' therapy for the treatment of the common cold: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial". Arch. Intern. Med..
13. [https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/echinacea/ ''Echinacea (Echinacea purpurea, Echinacea angustifolia, Echinacea pallida)'' [NCCIH Herbs at a Glance]]
14. The Xerces Society (2016), ''Gardening for Butterflies: How You Can Attract and Protect Beautiful, Beneficial Insects'', Timber Press. {{isbn. 978-1604695984