All sorts of bees are attracted to these flowers including Bumblebees, sweat bees, honey bees, the sunflower leafcutter bee, and the mining bee Andrena helianthiformis.
And butterflies! Notable butterflies include monarchs, swallowtail butterflies, and sulphur butterflies.
And birds! The plant produces achenes (a dry fruit) which is sought after by birds, particularly finches.
The Tales:
Echinacea means ‘spiny one’ in Greek, in reference to the spiny sea urchins ‘εχίνοι’ which the ripe flower heads of this genus resemble.
Extracts of the plant have shown to have immunostimulant properties and were cultivated commercially in Germany around 1939 and in Switzerland around 1950.
Although there are over 400 publications concerning the plant and dozens of preparations of Echinacea on the market, the true identity of many of the active principles still remains open.
Today, people use echinacea to shorten the duration of the common cold and flu, and reduce symptoms, such as sore throat (pharyngitis), cough, and fever.
Other Names:
Eastern purple coneflower, Purple coneflower, Hedgehog coneflower
Origin:
North America
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