Ethnobotany of purple coneflower (Echinacea angustifolia, Asteraceae) and Other Echinacea Species

Abstract

The purple coneflower, Echinacea angustifolia, was the most widely used medicinal plant of the Plains Indians. It was used for a variety of ailments, including toothache, coughs, colds, sore throats, snakebite, and as a painkiller. H. C. F. Meyer used it as a patent medicine in the 1870s and introduced it to the medical profession. Recent scientific research (mostly German) on Echinacea species has shown that they possess immunostimulatory activity. Increased cultivation of E. purpurea and E. angustifolia may be needed to meet the increased demand for its roots and to alleviate the effects of overharvesting of wild stands. © 1989 The New York Botanical Garden.