Purple Coneflower

Echinacea purpurea

no photo — written note
photo: Wikimedia Commons
Plants

Drooping purple rays around a bristly copper cone, standing into winter.

Field facts
HabitatPrairie remnants, glades, plantings
RangeStatewide, native in the south
When to lookJune to August
StatusSecure; wild-dug for herbal trade (Indiana DNR / IUCN Red List)
Look-alikesPale Purple Coneflower, Garden echinaceas

Field note: Its stiff cone stays intact through snow, marking the prairie in January.

Lesson
Watching responsibly

Leave seed heads standing — goldfinches feed on them all winter.

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