Echinacea angustifolia: An Emerging Medicinal*

The genus Echinacea (Asteraceae) is native to North America and consists of nine species (McGregor 1968). E. angustifolia DC, a narrow leafed species, is distributed on barrens and dry prairies from Minnesota to Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, the Dakotas, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba (McGregor 1968; Kindscher 1989; Foster 1991). E. angustifolia grows lower and exhibits a smaller leaf area and biomass than E. pallida (Nutt.) Nutt. and E. purpurea (L.) Moench. Echinacea angustifolia grows up to 60 cm and usually branches simple not sparsely. The ligules of E. angustifolia are also short (to 5 cm) and the pollen is yellow (Hobbs 1989). E. purpurea grows taller (to 150 cm), branches more, and its pollen is also yellow. E. purpurea has wider leaves than E. angustifolia and E. pallida. Echinacea pallida is also simple branched like E. angustifolia, but grows taller (to 90 cm) than E. angustifolia, and has white pollen (Hobbs 1989). As a result of the slower growth, E. angustifolia is a weaker competitor to weeds than E. pallida (Snyder et al. 1994). The ray flowers surrounding each Echinacea flower head are sterile (Hobbs 1989; Foster 1991; Feghahati 1994).