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blacksamson, blacksamson echinacea, narrow-leaf purple coneflower, purple coneflower

pale purple coneflower, purple coneflower

Habit Plants to 70 cm (roots usually fusiform, ± branched). Plants to 140 cm (roots fusiform to narrowly turbinate, usually branched).
Herbage

moderately to densely hairy (induments relatively harsh, hairs spreading, ca. 1–2 mm).

sparsely to densely hairy (hairs spreading, ca. 1.5–1.7 mm).

Stems

mostly green to purplish.

green to purplish (rarely branched).

Basal leaves

petioles 2–12 cm;

blades (1-), 3-, or (5-)nerved, elliptic to lanceolate, 7–30 × 0.5–2.5(–4) cm, bases cuneate to attenuate, margins entire (usually ciliate).

petioles 5–20+ cm;

blades (1-), 3-, or 5-nerved, elliptic to lanceolate, 12–40 × 1–4 cm, bases cuneate to attenuate, margins entire (usually ciliate).

Peduncles

10–30 cm.

15–50 cm.

Receptacles

paleae 9–14 mm, tips purple, straight, sharp-pointed.

paleae 9–14 mm, tips purple, usually incurved, sharp-pointed.

Ray corollas

pink to purplish, laminae reflexed, 15–40 × 5–8 mm, sparsely hairy abaxially.

pink to reddish purple, laminae reflexed, 40–90 × 3–4 mm, sparsely hairy abaxially.

Disc corollas

5–7+ mm, lobes usually purple.

5.5–6.7 mm, lobes usually pink to purple (pollen usually white, rarely lemon yellow).

Phyllaries

lanceolate to ovate, 6–12 × 1–2.5 mm.

lanceolate to ovate, 7–15 × 1–3 mm.

Cypselae

often bicolored, tan proximally, dark brown banded distally, 4–5 mm, faces ± smooth, usually glabrous;

pappi to ca. 1 mm (major teeth 0–4).

tan or bicolored, 2.5–5 mm, faces ± smooth, usually glabrous;

pappi to ca. 1 mm (major teeth 0–4).

Discs

conic to hemispheric, 15–30 × 20–35 mm.

conic to hemispheric, 20–40 × 25–37 mm.

2n

= 22, 44.

= 22.

Echinacea angustifolia

Echinacea pallida

Phenology Flowering late spring–mid summer. Flowering late spring–summer.
Habitat dry prairies, barrens, rocky to sandy-clay soils Rocky prairies, open wooded hillsides, and glades
Elevation 100–1600 m (300–5200 ft) 50–1500 m (200–4900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CO; IA; KS; MN; MO; MT; ND; NE; NM; OK; SD; TX; WY; MB; SK
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; CT; IA; IL; IN; KS; LA; MA; ME; MI; MO; NC; NE; NY; OK; TN; TX; VA; WI; ON
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

R. L. McGregor (1967, 1968) recognized Echinacea angustifolia var. strigosa as a complex of diploid and tetraploid populations ranging geographically from southeastern Kansas and central Oklahoma to north-central Texas. He noted that var. strigosa is distinguishable by its shorter stature, stems frequently branched, somewhat flexuous, distally strigose to strigose-hirsute that retain, in part, a green color upon drying. A hybrid origin for var. strigosa was suggested based on the morphologic intermediacy of natural populations compared to synthesized hybrids between typical E. angustifolia and E. atrorubens (McGregor 1968). Populations along the southern boundary of the range of var. strigosa are tetraploid. In their morphometric analyses, S. E. Binns et al. (2002) did not recognize var. strigosa; they found it indistinguishable from typical E. angustifolia.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Echinacea pallida is generally regarded as introduced in Connecticut, Georgia, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, and Virginia.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 21. FNA vol. 21, p. 90.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Heliantheae > subtribe Ecliptinae > Echinacea Asteraceae > tribe Heliantheae > subtribe Ecliptinae > Echinacea
Sibling taxa
E. atrorubens, E. laevigata, E. pallida, E. paradoxa, E. purpurea, E. sanguinea, E. simulata, E. tennesseensis
E. angustifolia, E. atrorubens, E. laevigata, E. paradoxa, E. purpurea, E. sanguinea, E. simulata, E. tennesseensis
Synonyms E. angustifolia var. strigosa Rudbeckia pallida
Name authority de Candolle: in A. P. de Candolle and A. L. P. P. de Candolle, Prodr. 5: 554. (1836) (Nuttall) Nuttall: Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n. s. 7: 354. (1840)
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