Purple coneflower

Echinacea purpurea

Asteraceae

Prairie coneflower taken at the first scratch of a cold — immune-modulating, not a daily tonic.

Common garden perennial and herbal product.

Parts used: Root · Flowering tops
Traditional notes: Early cold and flu · Sore throat gargle · Slow-healing minor wounds (topical)
Grow · USDA 6b: Perennial, USDA 3–9 Cold-stratify seed 30 days, or buy plants. Blooms year two from seed. In work: Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct
Harvest: Flowers in year two; roots in autumn of year three.

Cold-stratify seed or buy plants. First-year bloom is a bonus, not a promise.
Leave some seed heads for goldfinches; harvest roots only from plants three years old.
Sharp drainage. Winter wet kills more coneflowers than cold.

Safety

Progressive systemic diseases (TB, MS, autoimmune) unless supervised Asteraceae allergy

Lore

Plains nations chewed the root for snakebite and colds; 19th-century Eclectic physicians made it an American pharmacy staple, then medicine forgot it, then the 1980s remembered. The tingle on the tongue is the old quality test — if it doesn’t buzz, it isn’t the plant.

The Herbarium — a teaching catalog, not a clinic. Traditional use is history, not a prescription. USDA 6b dates are a week either way, not a promise. Do not eat, drink, or harvest a plant you cannot name.