The Monthly Wort
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The Monthly Wort will provide readers with detailed descriptions of specifically chosen herbs (aka “wort”, meaning a useful herb), splitting it into 4 categories over the span of the month. Herbal History, Medicinal Uses, Magical Uses and Growing/Harvesting. In order to get the full scope of each plant, stay tuned every week as we delve into spiritual and practical experience of Herbalism.
Today we’re going to chat about Echinacea, an herbaceous flowering plant in the daisy family. While it’s difficult to narrow down just which species we’re focusing on (E. purpurea, E. angustifolia, E. pallida) because of their different chemical compositions, varying health benefits and plant segments utilized, I’ll do my best to give you the specific profits of each. There are ten different species of Echinacea overall, although not every one of them is reliably helpful and there is some contention as far as proving their usefulness in modern herbal wellness.
E. Purpurea
Echinacea is derived from Greek, meaning “spiny one”, which is visually descriptive of the prickly, central disk at its center. It looks like a sea urchin, and is more obviously spiny depending on the species. The petals vary between different breeds as well. The other three we are covering are derived from Latin terms listed below (and they’re pretty on the nose as far as their names):
Which Echinacea is Which?
E. purpurea – “reddish-purple”
(Pictured above) An herbaceous perennial that blooms through summer and into autumn. It has a cone-shaped head (which gives it the clever nickname “cone flower”) and usually has purple petals. Depending on the climate of where it’s growing, it blooms throughout summer and into autumn, and stands about 45 inches tall. The ovular leaves alternate from a petiole and tend to be toothed.
E. Angustifolia – “narrow leaf”
This breed is native to areas east of the Rocky Mountains here in the USA, also found in the western states, Canada and Europe. It grows up to 28 inches tall with branching taproots. The stem and leaves are hairy. The flower will come in purple or pink ray florets as well as orange disc florets. It blooms in late spring to mid summer, preferring drier and sandy soils.
E. Pallida – “pale”
Another perennial in the Asteraceae family. It grows native to the central region of the United States. Looking much like E. augustfolia, it can grow up to 36 inches tall. The leaves are more elongated than its sibling plants and are linear-lanceolate with three veins. Their flower head rays are narrow and drooping at 1-3 inches long. They have nearly white ray florets and have white pollen that is a favorite of bees. It blooms from late spring to mid summer.
Traditional and Modern Medicinal Use
Several of these species are used in medicine, be it from the leaves, flower or root. For Great Plains Native American tribes, it was a stable in their health, and was later used by settlers. It was even listed in the U.S. National Formulary from 1916-1950, although was taken off when antibiotics were introduced.
Echinacea has been used in many beneficial ways, including the common cold (mostly in that it reduces the risk of repeated respiratory infections), external wounds (burns, insect bites, small cuts and abrasions), toothaches and throat infections.
I will say that, in comparison to other medicinal plants, Echinacea has a shorter history of use. The first archaeological evidence of it was from the 18th century (Hostettmann) and it’s first publically dispersed preparation was Meyer’s Blood Purifier in 1880, used for rheumatism, neuralgia and rattlesnake bites.
“At the beginning of the 20th century, Echinacea was the most frequently used plant preparation in the USA. Commercial cultivation was started in Germany around 1939. The introduction and cultivation of Echinacea in Switzerland by A. Vogel was around 1950. Chemists and pharmacologists became interested in Echinacea and many constituents are now known, such as polysaccharides, echinacoside, cichoric acid, ketoalkenes and alkylamides. The extracts exhibit immunostimulant properties and are mainly used in the prophylaxis and therapy of colds, flu and septic complaints. Although there are over 400 publications concerning the plant and dozens of preparations of Echinacea n the market, the true identity of the active principles still remains open.”
There you have it, folks. Although there isn’t a large history in comparison to some of the other plants we’ve covered in the Monthly Wort, there is definitely more to come in the later blogs, which will touch on its medicinal use (and perhaps disperse some of the common misconceptions for Echinacea’s abilities), magical input, and then how to grow and harvest your own. Stay tuned!
