Dig into Plants: Purple Coneflower

Purple Coneflower Other Common Names: Eastern Purple Coneflower Scientific Name: Echinacea purpurea Native to Alabama: Yes
	Wikimedia Matt Lavin Click on image to enlarge it

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Basic Plant Information
	I am a vascular plant with no woody stems above ground, so I am herbaceous. I do not keep leaves year-round, so I am deciduous. I die back in winter but regrow in spring for many seasons, so I am perennial. I can grow 2 - 5 feet high and 1.5 - 2 feet wide.
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Stephanie Brundage Click on image to enlarge it

Ecological Benefits

Other Plants Found in Alabama with Similar Ecological Benefits:

Smooth Purple Coneflower (Echinacea laevigata)	Pale Purple Coneflower (Echinacea pallida)

Maintenance Notes
Dormant in winter. Flowers can be cut for an indoor vase. plants will rebloom without deadheading, however prompt removal of spent flowers improves appearance. When watering, hold hose to base of plant for a count of 5 seconds. Water should reach all roots. Avoid sprinkling water on the leaves. Requires average amount of water.
Average watering: water two times per week during the summer and once per week during the rest of the year.

Habitat Requirements

This plant prefers:
Full Sun (6+ hours of sun per day) Part Sun/ Shade (2-6 hours of sun per day)	Average Watering	Well-drained, Sandy, Loamy, Clay, or Limestone

Leaf, Flower & Seed Identification


LEAF DESCRIPTION				Wikimedia Forest & Kim Starr Click on image to enlarge it
Leaf Characteristics Chart (PDF)

Shape: Ovate or Lanceolate	Margin: Serrate or Dentate	Arrangement: Alternate	Form: Simple


Description:
Dark green leaves; basal leaves (leaves at the base of the stem) and lower stem leaves are ovate to lanceolate and slightly heart-shaped at the base of the leaf; upper stem leaves are similar but become smaller as they extend up the stem


FLOWER DESCRIPTION			Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Joseph A. Marcus Click on image to enlarge it
Flower Shape Chart (JPG)

Color: Purple, Pink	Shape: Radiate/Ligulate	Bloom Months: Apr - Sep

Description:
Flowers occur singly at the top of 2-5 ft stems and are up to 5 inches in diameter; flower heads have drooping and tongue-shaped ray florets (narrow, petal-like, infertile florets that surround the disk) and purplish-brown disk florets (tubular, fertile florets that forms disk) that form spiny central cone


SEED DESCRIPTION			USDA-NRCS Plants Database Steve Hurst Click on image to enlarge it

Type: Fruit - Dry Seed Pod	Description: small, dark, 4-angled pods	Months in Seed: Fall

Plant spreads by:
Seeds and Rhizomes/ Tubers/ Roots & Shoots Self-seeds, can become aggressive if conditions are right

Plant Life Cycle

Plant Life Cycle:

All plants start life as a seed.
The seed turns into a sprout when it grows roots.
The sprout becomes a seedling as grows a stem and leaves above the ground.
After the seedling becomes an adult plant it will grow flowers.
After the flowers finish blooming, each flower turns into a seed.
When the seeds fall down to the ground, the plant life cycle starts again.
Each seed can become a plant if it has the food, water and space that it needs to grow.

General Plant Life Cycle - Dreamstime
Click on image to enlarge it

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS

Quick Fact Sheet
(Condensed Species Info)

Plant ID Sign:
Ready as-is PDF

Plant ID Sign:
Editable Word Doc

QR Code
(Links to this Webpage)

INFORMATION SOURCES FOR THIS PLANT

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center's Plant Database		USDA Plants Database
Missouri Botanical Garden		Alabama Butterfly Atlas

Alabama Outdoor Classroom Conservation Education Programs