Pockets Of Light:
Cherry Street Pier

Plant

Purple Coneflower
Echinacea purpurea

Ecology

Purple coneflower is a native prairie plant—so what’s it doing here? When you think of America’s prairies, you probably think of the Great Plains. But there used to be small prairies across the East Coast, which were managed and maintained with fire by Native Americans. There may have once been a prairie in southwest Philadelphia, since “Kingsessing” is the Lenape word for “place where there is a meadow.”

The beauty of purple coneflowers and the ecological value they provide has made them a popular garden plant. Due to the widespread loss of eastern prairies, they’re now thought to be more common in gardens than in the wild—a bittersweet fate.

Coneflowers are frequented by many species of butterflies, including monarchs, swallowtails, skippers, fritillaries, American ladies, and red admirals. Bees and beetles also feed on their nectar. Since they continue to bloom late into the fall, these flowers become a critical food source when most other flowers have stopped blooming for the season. After they finally stop blooming, their seeds then provide food for American goldfinches.

Indigenous Uses

The root of the purple coneflower had several medicinal uses among Native Americans. The Choctaw used it to create a cough medicine and an indigestion aid, and the Delaware used it to create a highly effective treatment for gonorrhea.

Based on these uses, early colonizers used purple coneflower extensively, to treat almost everything, apparently. In 1880, the first mass market product made from purple coneflower went on sale: “Meyers Blood Purifier,” which was advertised as treating rheumatism, neuralgia, and rattlesnake bites. The plant became extremely popular, and is still used as an herbal remedy today. Research has shown that it contains immunostimulant compounds, and that it may have other anti-inflammatory and therapeutic effects.

Symbolism

With a long history of extensive medicinal uses, purple coneflowers are often considered symbols of strength and health.

One Last Thought

Purple Coneflower has been called by many other names, including snakeroot, scurvy root, comb flower, black Susans, and hedgehog coneflower. Indeed, the central part of the flower looks very much like a hedgehog—and their latin genus name derives from the Greek word for hedgehog, “echinos!”

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