Plant Guide

Summary
Duration	Perennial
Growth Habit	Forb/herb
U.S. Nativity	Native to U.S.
Federal T/E Status
National Wetland Indicator
Morphology/Physiology
Active Growth Period	Spring and Summer
After Harvest Regrowth Rate	Slow
Bloat	None
C:N Ratio	Medium
Coppice Potential	No
Fall Conspicuous	No
Fire Resistant	Yes
Flower Color	White
Flower Conspicuous	Yes
Foliage Color	Green
Foliage Porosity Summer	Porous
Foliage Porosity Winter	Porous
Foliage Texture	Fine
Fruit/Seed Color	Black
Fruit/Seed Conspicuous	No
Growth Form	Single Stem
Growth Rate	Moderate
Height at 20 Years, Maximum (feet)	1
Height, Mature (feet)	1.2
Known Allelopath	No
Leaf Retention	No
Lifespan	Long
Low Growing Grass	No
Nitrogen Fixation
Resprout Ability	No
Shape and Orientation	Erect
Toxicity	None
Growth Requirements
Adapted to Coarse Textured Soils	Yes
Adapted to Fine Textured Soils	Yes
Adapted to Medium Textured Soils	Yes
Anaerobic Tolerance	None
CaCO3 Tolerance	Low
Cold Stratification Required	Yes
Drought Tolerance	Medium
Fertility Requirement	Low
Fire Tolerance	High
Frost Free Days, Minimum	90
Hedge Tolerance	None
Moisture Use	Medium
pH, Minimum	6.5
pH, Maximum	7.2
Planting Density per Acre, Minimum
Planting Density per Acre, Maximum
Precipitation, Minimum	14
Precipitation, Maximum	40
Root Depth, Minimum (inches)	14
Salinity Tolerance	Low
Shade Tolerance	Intolerant
Temperature, Minimum (°F)	-33
Reproduction
Bloom Period	Early Summer
Commercial Availability	Routinely Available
Fruit/Seed Abundance	Medium
Fruit/Seed Period Begin	Summer
Fruit/Seed Period End	Fall
Fruit/Seed Persistence	No
Propagated by Bare Root	No
Propagated by Bulb	No
Propagated by Container	No
Propagated by Corm	No
Propagated by Cuttings	No
Propagated by Seed	Yes
Propagated by Sod	No
Propagated by Sprigs	No
Propagated by Tubers	No
Seed per Pound	106000
Seed Spread Rate	Slow
Seedling Vigor	Medium
Small Grain	No
Vegetative Spread Rate	None
Suitability/Use
Berry/Nut/Seed Product	No
Christmas Tree Product	No
Fodder Product	No
Fuelwood Product	None
Lumber Product	No
Naval Store Product	No
Nursery Stock Product	No
Palatable Browse Animal	Low
Palatable Graze Animal	Low
Palatable Human	No
Post Product	No
Protein Potential	Medium
Pulpwood Product	No
Veneer Product	No

 

Kingdom  Plantae -- Plants

Subkingdom  Tracheobionta -- Vascular plants

Superdivision  Spermatophyta -- Seed plants

Division  Magnoliophyta -- Flowering plants

Class  Magnoliopsida -- Dicotyledons

Subclass  Asteridae

Order  Asterales

Family  Asteraceae -- Aster family

Genus  Echinacea Moench -- purple coneflower P

Species  Echinacea pallida (Nutt.) Nutt. -- pale purple coneflower P

 

Uses

Pale purple coneflower can be used for roadside plantings, prairie restoration, wildlife food and cover, prairie landscaping and native gardens.

 

Status

Please consult the PLANTS Web site and your State Department of Natural Resources for this plant’s current status (e.g. threatened or endangered species, state noxious status, and wetland indicator values).  This plant is considered threatened in a couple of states.

 

Description

Pale purple coneflower is a native perennial forb growing to a height of 3 feet with coarse bristly hairs on the stout stems and leaves.  The leaves are rough-surfaced, up to 10 inches long and 1 ½ inches wide, and tapering at either end, with several parallel veins running along their lengths.  The basal leaves are on long stalks, while the stem leaves are few, and usually lack long stalks.  There is a single showy flower head at the top of each stem, with many drooping, pale purple petal-like ray flowers, each up to 3 ½ inches long, surrounding a broad, purplish brown, cone-shaped central disk.  Pale purple coneflower flowers in late spring to midsummer.

 

Adaptation and Distribution

Pale purple coneflower is widely distributed in dry and mesic prairies and open savannas from southeastern Nebraska and north central Iowa south and east to southwestern Arkansas and northwestern Indiana.

 

For a current distribution map, please consult the Plant Profile page for this species on the PLANTS Web site. 

 

Establishment

Prepare a clean weed free seedbed by disking and harrowing or using chemical weed control.  Firm the seedbed by cultipacking.  Seedbed should be firm enough to allow seed to be planted 1/8 inch deep.  The seed of pale purple coneflower should be dormant seeded for best results, because the seed needs cold moist stratification for two months (60 days) in cold, moist environment (35 - 40 degrees Fahrenheit).  This is the usual time required to break dormancy; however, a few require only one month or up to three months.

 

Pale purple coneflower has 80,000 – 85,000 seeds per pound.  Seeding rates for seed production should be about 3 - 5 pounds of pure live seed (PLS) per acre in 36-inch rows

(20 - 30 seeds per row foot).  For a solid stand, the seeding rate would be 15 - 20 pounds PLS per acre (30 – 40 seeds per square foot).

 

For a prairie planting, pale purple coneflower would be a small component of a mixture ranging from 0.1 – 1.0 PLS pound per acre (0.2 – 2 PLS per square foot).

 

Use no fertilizer the establishment year unless soil test indicates a low deficiency of less than 15 PPM of phosphorus and or less than 90 PPM of potassium.  Use no nitrogen during the establishment year as this can encourage weed competition.

 

Management

Reduce weed competition by mowing over the height of the pale purple coneflower plants or cultivating between the rows.  For grassy weed control usage of a post emergence grass herbicide can provide control and will encourage a good stand.  Remove dead plant material in the spring for faster green-up by shredding.  Burning of dead plant refuge can weaken the plants unless done before it has broken dormancy.

 

Pests and Potential Problems

This species was grown at the Elsberry Plant Materials Center for several years, and during this time there were no apparent pests or potential problems in growing.

 

Environmental Concerns

Pale purple coneflower is not known to invade where this species does not naturally occur.

 

Cultivars, Improved, and Selected Materials (and area of origin)

According to the publication entitled ‘Improved Conservation Plants Materials Released by NRCS and Cooperators through September 2001’, there are no cultivars, source identified, selected or tested releases of pale purple coneflower from the Plant Materials Program.  The origin for these releases was northern, central and southern counties in the state of Iowa.

 

Prepared By & Species Coordinators:

Jimmy Henry, Manager

Steven Bruckerhoff, Conservation Agronomist

Jerry Kaiser, Plant Materials Specialist

Elsberry Plant Materials Center, Elsberry, Missouri

 

Edited: 21nov2003 jlk; 05jun06 jsp

 

For more information about this and other plants, please contact your local NRCS field office or Conservation District, and visit the PLANTS Web site<https://plants.usda.gov> or the Plant Materials Program Web site <https://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov>