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Native Plant Society of Texas

Purple Coneflower

Echinacea purpurea

Other common name(s):

Eastern Purple Coneflower

Family:

Asteraceae (Aster Family)

Plant Ecoregion Distribution Map

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Western Gulf Coastal Plain
Tertiary Uplands

Plant Characteristics

Growth Form

Herbaceous

Height

1.5
to
2
ft.

Spread

0.5
to
1
ft.

Leaf Retention

Deciduous

Lifespan

Perennial

Habitat and Care Requirements

Soil Type(s)

Sand, Loam, Clay, Limestone, Well Drained, Dry

Light Requirement

Sun, Part Shade

Water Requirement

Low, Medium

Native Habitat

Grassland, Woodland

Bloom and Attraction

Bloom Color

Pink, Purple

Bloom Season

Spring, Summer

Seasonal Interest

Seeds, Nectar, Pollen

Wildlife Benefit

Butterflies, Birds, Hummingbirds, Bees

Maintenance

Needs well drained soil. Give plenty of space. Can be hard to get started, but spreads easily once established. Thin as needed. Can be used as a single plant by deadheading or allowed to seed out to form a mass planting. Great addition to butterfly gardens. Can be grown in container gardens. Propagation: seed, root division.

Comments

Blooms April-September. Smooth, erect stem. topped by single, daisy-shaped flowers. The purple ray flowers surround a domed, purplish-brown center of disc flowers. Lance to oval-shaped leaves have a rough texture and become smaller near the top of the stem. The fruit is a cypsela: a dry, one-seeded fruit, usually topped by pappus. Echinacea purpurea is native to a very tiny area of Northeast Texas, but is popular in nurseries. Echinacea angustifolia is better adapted and is native to Central and West Texas dry prairies. Echinacea sanguinea and Echinacea pallida are better adapted and native to moister areas in East Texas. If they can’t be found in nurseries, they can be grown from seed.
Previous Scientific Name(s): Brauneria purpurea, Echinacea purpurea var. arkansana, Rudbeckia purpurea

References

1) Griffith, Bryce, Omernick & Rodgers (2007). Ecoregions of Texas. 2) Wasowski and Wasowski, Native Texas Plants Landscaping Region by Region, 1991, pg. 186. 3) https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ECPU. 4) https://portal.torcherbaria.org/portal/taxa/index.php?taxon=Echinacea+purpurea&formsubmit=Search+Terms. 5) http://bonap.net/TDC/Image/Map?taxonType=Species&taxonId=2784&locationType=County&mapType=Normal. 6) https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=37281#null., 7) Native and Adapted Landscape Plants, City of Austin and Texas A&M, 2014., 8) https://seedsource.com/purple-coneflower-2/
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