Perennials -
Coneflower
Echinacea,
commonly called Purple coneflower, is a genus of nine
species of herbaceous plants in the Family Asteraceae. All are
strictly native to eastern and central North America. The plants
have large showy heads of composite flowers, blooming from early
to late summer. Some species are used in herbal medicines.
The genus name is from the Greek echino, meaning "spiny", due to
the spiny central disk. They are herbaceous, drought-tolerant
perennial plants growing to 1 or 2 m in height. The leaves are
lanceolate to elliptic, 10–20 cm long and 1.5–10 cm broad. Like
all Asteraceae, the flowers are a composite inflorescence, with
purple (rarely yellow or white) florets arranged in a prominent,
somewhat cone-shaped head; "cone-shaped" because the petals of the
outer ray florets tend to point downward (are reflexed) once the
flower head opens, thus forming a cone
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