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Bush's purple coneflower, yellow coneflower

purple coneflower

Habit Plants to 90 cm (roots fusiform to elongate-turbinate, branched). Perennials, to 140 cm (caudices vertical or horizontal; plants usually taprooted, fibrous rooted in E. purpurea).
Herbage

sparsely to densely hairy (hairs appressed to ascending).

Stems

usually yellowish green (usually not branched).

erect, unbranched or ± branched (glabrous or hairy, hairs appressed, ascending, or spreading, uniseriate).

Leaves

basal and cauline; alternate; petiolate (at least basal and proximal cauline, petioles progressively shorter distally);

blades (1-, 3-, or 5-nerved) linear to lanceolate or elliptic to ovate (distal smaller), bases mostly attenuate (decurrent on petioles) to cuneate, sometimes rounded or cordate, margins usually entire, sometimes dentate or serrate, faces usually hairy (hairs uniseriate, usually with 1–4 rings of cells surrounding bases), sometimes glabrate or glabrous.

Basal leaves

petioles 0–15 cm;

blades (3-) or 5-nerved, usually linear or lanceolate, rarely ovate, 5–35 × 0.5–2(–2.5) cm, bases usually attenuate, margins entire (usually ciliate).

Peduncles

(2–)10–30 cm.

Involucres

crateriform to hemispheric, 12–40 mm diam.

Receptacles

paleae 10–14 mm, tips red to orange, often incurved, sharp-pointed.

hemispheric to conic, paleate (paleae orange to reddish purple distally, surpassing disc corollas, bases partially surrounding cypselae, bodies keeled, apices abruptly constricted to awnlike tips; discs 10–45 × 15–40 mm).

Ray florets/Ray corollas

yellow (var. paradoxa) or pinkish to white (var. neglecta), laminae reflexed, 30–70 × 3–8 mm, sparsely hairy abaxially.

8–21, neuter;

corollas dark purple to pale pink, white, or yellow (tubes glabrous or sparsely hairy, laminae spreading, reflexed, or drooping, linear to elliptic or obovate, abaxial faces glabrous or moderately hairy).

Disc florets/Disc corollas

4.5–6.2 mm, lobes pinkish to yellowish.

200–300+, bisexual, fertile;

corollas pinkish, greenish, reddish purple, or yellow, tubes shorter than throats (often sparsely hairy), lobes 5 (erect or spreading to recurved), triangular (pollen usually yellow, usually white in E. pallida).

Phyllaries

lanceolate to ovate, 7–12 × 1–4 mm.

persistent, 15–50 in 2–4 series (spreading, recurved, or reflexed, linear or lanceolate to ovate, subequal to unequal, mostly herbaceous, apices mostly attenuate, abaxial faces usually hairy, sometimes glabrate or glabrous).

Heads

radiate, borne singly (on relatively long peduncles).

Cypselae

tan or bicolored (with distal dark brown band), 4–5.5 mm, faces ± tuberculate, usually glabrous (angles of ray cypselae hairy distally in var. neglecta);

pappi to ca. 1.2 mm (major teeth 0–4).

(tan or bicolored with dark brown band distally) 3- or 4-angled (faces smooth to finely tuberculate, glabrous or sparsely hairy);

pappi persistent, ± coroniform (with 0–4 ± prominent teeth).

Discs

ovoid to conic, 2–3.5 × 2–3.5 cm.

x

= 11.

Echinacea paradoxa

Echinacea

Distribution
from FNA
AR; MO; OK; TX
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from USDA
e North America; c North America
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

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

Species 9 (9 in the flora).

In keys and descriptions, “discs” refers to receptacles at late flowering with paleae and florets included in assessing shapes and in measurements of lengths and diameters.

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

Key
1. Ray corollas yellow; n Arkansas, s Missouri
var. paradoxa
1. Ray corollas light purple, pink, or white; s Okla-homa, n Texas
var. neglecta
1. Basal leaves: blades (1–)5–12 cm wide, bases rounded to cordate (plants fibrous rooted)
E. purpurea
1. Basal leaves: blades 0.5–4(–6.5) cm wide, bases usually cuneate to attenuate, sometimes rounded (E. laevigata) (plants taprooted)
→ 2
2. Herbage (stems and leaves) glabrate (and glaucous); basal leaf blades 3–6.5 cm wide, margins usually serrate or dentate
E. laevigata
2. Herbage usually sparsely to densely hairy, rarely glabrous; basal leaf blades 0.5–4 cm wide, margins usually entire
→ 3
3. Hairs (stems, leaves, and peduncles) appressed to ascending
→ 4
3. Hairs (stems, leaves, and peduncles) spreading
→ 6
4. Rays yellow; s, c Missouri, n Arkansas (Ozark region)
E. paradoxa
4. Rays pale pink, dark pink, purple, or white; Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas
→ 5
5. Ray laminae 19–35 mm; ray cypselae glabrous distally; e Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas
E. atrorubens
5. Ray laminae 30–70 mm; ray cypselae hairy distally (at least on angles); s, c Oklahoma (Arbuckle Mountain region)
E. paradoxa
6. Ray laminae 15–40 mm
→ 7
6. Ray laminae 40–90 mm
→ 8
7. Discs 20–35 mm diam. (herbage induments relatively harsh); widespread, plains,w North America
E. angustifolia
7. Discs 15–25 mm diam. (herbage induments relatively soft); c Tennessee
E. tennesseensis
8. Discs subspheric, 15–30 × 20–30 mm; paleae 8–11 mm, tips purple, rounded (sw Arkansas, w Louisiana, se Oklahoma, e Texas)
E. sanguinea
8. Discs conic to hemispheric, 20–40 × 20–37 mm; paleae 9–14 mm, tips pinkish to purple, sharp-pointed
→ 9
9. Ray corollas pink to reddish purple, 3–4 mm wide; pollen usually white, sometimes lemon yellow; cypselae glabrous
E. pallida
9. Ray corollas rose to pink or white, 4–7 mm wide; pollen yellow; cypselae (rays) hairy (n Arkansas, se Missouri, eastward)
E. simulata
Source FNA vol. 21, p. 90. FNA vol. 21, p. 88. Authors: Lowell E. Urbatsch, Kurt M. Neubig, Patricia B. Cox.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Heliantheae > subtribe Ecliptinae > Echinacea Asteraceae > tribe Heliantheae > subtribe Ecliptinae
Sibling taxa
E. angustifolia, E. atrorubens, E. laevigata, E. pallida, E. purpurea, E. sanguinea, E. simulata, E. tennesseensis
Subordinate taxa
E. paradoxa var. neglecta, E. paradoxa var. paradoxa
E. angustifolia, E. atrorubens, E. laevigata, E. pallida, E. paradoxa, E. purpurea, E. sanguinea, E. simulata, E. tennesseensis
Synonyms Brauneria paradoxa
Name authority (Norton) Britton: in N. L. Britton and A. Brown, Ill. Fl. N. U.S. ed. 2, 3: 476. (1913) Moench: Methodus, 591. (1794)
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