Purple Coneflower {InstaScience}

I am in love with purple and with fresh flowers, so you know that when we came across these amazing looking purple coneflowers on one of our walks, we had to stop to take a picture!

The purple coneflower is a wildflower that looks like a daisy. It is an erect, perennial herb that grows 1-3 feet stems in height and has medium-green lanced-shaped leaves. The flowers are typically purple, but the petals may also be pink, lavender, or white in color. The center of the flower is cone-shaped and coppery-brown in color. And now you can see why it is called the purple coneflower.

The purple coneflower blooms in midsummer and into fall. It grows naturally in wild fields and in open woodlands, especially in eastern north and central America. Honey bees, butterflies, other insects, and small songbirds, like the goldfinch, are attracted to its sweet nectar and eat the dried seeds.

Fun Fact – Purple coneflower can be used to strengthen the immune system and its flowers can be made as tea. It belongs to medicinal plant and its extract can be made into liquid capsule or pill is sold in most drugstores.

RELATED SCIENCE ACTIVITY

• Learn about composite flowers.

LINKS TO RESEARCH

• http://www.bio.brandeis.edu/fieldbio/Wildflowers_Kimonis_Kramer/PAGES/PURPLECONEFLOWER_PAGE_FINAL.html
• http://homeguides.sfgate.com/purple-coneflower-58524.html
• https://plants.usda.gov/factsheet/pdf/fs_ecpu.pdf