purple coneflower, Echinacea purpurea

Echinacea! Who hasn't heard of that herbal treatment for colds and other infections? Or just as a stimulant? Or that can cause rashes and allergic reactions severe enough to kill? Despite the risks, this is one of the better sellers off the herbal shelf. But maybe better to just leave it in our flower gardens, where it is also very popular. It seems like every year a new color shows up at the nursery. This is native in the east, but a lot of them you see these days are garden escapes, or planted in faux wildflower plots. Here in Michigan, all the original wild plants are believed to have been extirpated. What we see are all escapes or plantings. Purple coneflower grows in AL, AR, CO, CT, FL(E), GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MD, MI(X), MO, MS, NC, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, WI, WV, and ON. Lenawee Co MI, 7/19/10.