Echinacea angustifolia

Echinacea angustifolia, the narrow-leaved purple coneflower or blacksamson echinacea,[2] is a North American plant species in sunflower family. It is widespread across much of the Great Plains of central Canada and the central United States, with additional populations in nearby regions.[3]

Echinacea angustifolia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Asterales
Family:	Asteraceae
Genus:	Echinacea
Species:	E. angustifolia
Binomial name
Echinacea angustifolia DC.
Synonyms[1]
Brauneria angustifolia (DC.) A.Heller

Echinacea angustifolia is a perennial herb up to 40 to 70 centimetres (16 to 28 in) tall with spindle-shaped taproots that are often branched. The stems and leaves are moderately to densely hairy. The plant produces flower heads one per side branch, each at the end of a long peduncle. Each head contains 8–21 pink or purple ray florets plus 80–250 orange disc florets.[2]

Echinacea angustifolia blooms late spring to mid summer. It is found growing in dry prairies and barrens with rocky to sandy-clay soils.[2] There are two subspecies:[4][5]

• Echinacea angustifolia subsp. angustifolia is native to central Canada and the central United States from Saskatchewan and Manitoba in the north to Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Louisiana in the south
• Echinacea angustifolia subsp. strigosa has a more limited range in Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Louisiana.[6]

Many Native American groups used this plant for a variety of medicinal purposes, including pain relief and relief of colds and toothaches.[7] The medicinal properties of E. angustifolia have been so-far unsubstantiated by science.[8]