- Description:
One to several stout, upright stems are covered with rough, spreading hairs. Leaf
blades are roughly hairy with three prominent, parallel veins. Flower heads are solitary.
Ray petals are 1½ inches long, purplish-pink and spreading with a dark spiny
“cone” in the center.
- Comments:
This plant was used by the Plains Indians for medicinal purposes. The rootstock is known
for its pain-reducing properties resulting in the common name, “toothache
plant.” This anesthetic quality was helpful with sore throat, stomach cramps,
snakebite and all types of wounds. Recent studies conclude the plant produces an
anti-inflammatory effect and stimulates the immune system. Purple-coneflower is favored by
butterflies. It grows in the western three-quarters of Kansas on dry, upland prairies in
rocky shallow soil. Pale Coneflower is a similar species with pale-pink, drooping petals.
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