Echinacea
(from echinos, a hedgehog; referring to the prickly scales of the receptacle). ORD. Compositae. Ornamental hardy herbaceous perennials, with generic characters scarcely distinct from Rudbeckia, in which genus it is included by Bentham and Hooker. Echinaceas from excellent subjects for mixed borders and sub-tropical gardens. The species thrive best in warm, sunny situations, and in a compost of deep rich loam and leaf mould. They are readily propagated by divisions.
E. angustifolia (narrow-leaved).* fl.-heads light purple or rose, 4in. to 6in. across. Summer. l. lanceolate, hairy, 4in. to 6in. long, 1/2in. broad. Stem hairy below. h. 2ft. to 4ft. United States, 1861. (B. M. 5281.) E. purpurea (purple).* fl.-heads reddish-purple, paling off at the tips to a greyish-green, about 4in. across; peduncle long, thick, rigid, producing a solitary terminal flower-head. Summer, autumn. l. roughish, obscurely dentate; radical ones ovate-lanceolate; cauline ones more lanceolate, tapering at the base. Stem smooth. h. 3ft. to 4ft. United States, 1799. (B. M. 2, under the name of Rudbeckia purpurea.) E. p. intermedia (intermediate) comes very near E. purpurea. It differs principally in the more spreading ray-florets. h. 2ft. to 4ft. (P. M. B. xv. 79.) E. p. serotina (late-flowering) is a hirsute or hispid form of E. purpurea. (L. B. C. 1539.)