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Echinacea purpurea, the eastern purple coneflower, purple coneflower, hedgehog coneflower, or echinacea, is a North American species of flowering plant in the sunflower family. It is native to parts of eastern North America[4] and present to some extent in the wild in much of the eastern, southeastern and midwestern United States as well as in the Canadian Province of Ontario. It is most common in the Ozarks and in the Mississippi/Ohio Valley. Its habitats include dry open woods, prairies and barrens. Echinacea purpurea is an herbaceous perennial up to 120 cm (47 in) tall by 25 cm (10 in) wide at maturity. Depending on the climate, it blooms throughout summer into autumn. Its cone-shaped flowering heads are usually, but not always, purple in the wild. Its individual flowers (florets) within the flower head are hermaphroditic, having both male and female organs in each flower. It is pollinated by butterflies and bees. The alternate leaves, borne by a petiole from 0 to 17 cm, are oval to lanceolate, 5-30 x 5-12 cm; the margin is tightened to toothed. The inflorescence is a capitulum, 7 to 15 cm in diameter, formed by a prominent domed central protuberance consisting of multiple small yellow florets. These are surrounded by a ring of pink or purple ligulate florets. The tubular florets are hermaphrodite while the ligular florets are sterile. The involucral bracts are linear to lanceolate. The plant prefers well-drained soils in full sun. The fruit is an achene, sought after by birds. Echinacea purpurea is grown as an ornamental plant in temperate regions. It is ideal for curbs, walkways or beds. The flowers can also go into the composition of fresh bouquets. Numerous cultivars have been developed for flower quality and plant form. The plant grows in sun or light shade. It thrives in either dry or moist soil and can tolerate drought once established. The cultivars ’Ruby Giant’ and Elton Knight=’Elbrook’ have gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit. Echinacea purpurea contains alkamides, caffeic acid derivatives, polysaccharides, and is the dominant flavonoid in E. purpurea, followed by the flavonoid rutin. Native Americans used the plant as traditional medicine to treat many ailments. Early European settlers noticed this and began to develop their own uses. According to Wallace Sampson, its modern use for the common cold began when a Swiss herbal supplement maker was told that Echinacea was used for cold prevention by Native American tribes who lived in the area of South Dakota. The first preparation was Meyers Blood Purifier (ca. 1880), which was promoted for neuralgia, rattlesnake bites and rheumatism. By the start of the 20th century it was the most common herbal remedy in America. Commercial cultivation began in Germany in the late 1930s, and in Switzerland in 1950, by A. Vogel. Soon chemists and pharmacologists began the task of identifying potentially active ingredients and their properties. These included alyklamides, cichoric acid, echinacoside, ketoalkenes and polysaccharides. Extracts appeared to exhibit immunostimulant properties and were mainly promoted for the prevention and treatment of colds, influenza and sepsis. Despite many different preparations and hundreds of publications, no exact identification of a truly active ingredient has been identified. When taken by mouth, Echinacea does not usually cause side effects, but may have undesirable interactions with various drugs prescribed for diseases, such as heart disease, bleeding, and autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, or psoriasis. Although there are no specific case reports of drug interactions with Echinacea, safety about taking Echinacea supplements is not well-understood, with possibilities that it may cause side effects, such as nausea, stomach upset or diarrhea, and that it may have adverse reactions with other medications. One of the most extensive and systematic studies to review the safety of Echinacea products concluded that overall, “adverse events are rare, mild and reversible,“ with the most common symptoms being “gastrointestinal and skin-related.“ Such side effects include nausea, abdominal pain, diarrhea, itch, and rash Echinacea has also been linked to allergic reactions, including asthma, shortness of breath, and one case of anaphylaxis. Muscle and joint pain has been associated with Echinacea, but it may have been caused by cold or flu symptoms for which the Echinacea products were administered. There are isolated case reports of rare and idiosyncratic reactions including thrombocytopenic purpura, leucopenia, hepatitis, kidney failure, and atrial fibrillation, although it is not clear that these were due to Echinacea itself. Up to 58 drugs or supplements may interact with Echinacea.
