''Echinacea paradoxa'', the yellow coneflower, Bush's purple coneflower,''Echinacea paradoxa''
United States Department of Agriculture plants profile or Ozark coneflower, is a

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

n species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the family

Asteraceae The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...

. It is native to southern

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

, and south-central

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

, It is listed as

threatened Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensat ...

.Flora of North America, ''Echinacea paradoxa'' (Norton) Britton
/ref>

Description

''Echinacea paradoxa'' is a

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

herb up to tall with multiple, slightly hairy stems arising from the rootstock. Most of the leaves are

basal leaves A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, st ...

with smooth margins. They are alternate, becoming shorter higher up on the stem, and they are completely absent on the upper two-thirds of the stem. The basal leaves are long and narrowly elliptic to

lanceolate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...

, and the stem leaves are long and linear to narrowly elliptic or narrowly lanceolate. One plant can produce several

flower heads A pseudanthium (Greek for "false flower"; ) is an inflorescence that resembles a flower. The word is sometimes used for other structures that are neither a true flower nor a true inflorescence. Examples of pseudanthia include flower heads, compos ...

, each with white, pink, or yellow

ray florets The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...

surrounding a central head of numerous

disk floret The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae we ...

s. Each flower head is about across. The central head is dome-shaped and dark reddish brown to nearly black. It is prickly to the touch. It blooms in May and June.

Taxonomy

;Varieties * ''Echinacea paradoxa'' var. ''paradoxa'' - yellow rays -

and

- yellow coneflower or Ozark coneflower * ''Echinacea paradoxa'' var.''neglecta'' - pink or white rays

and

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

- Bush's purple coneflower ''Echinacea paradoxa'' var. ''paradoxa'' has a baseline chromosome number of x = 11, like most ''Echinacea'' plants.Smith, E. B., P. E. Hyatt, and K. Golden. 1992. Documented chromosome numbers 1992: 1. Chromosome numbers of some Arkansas flowering plants. Sida 15:145–146.

Distribution and habitat

''Echinacea paradoxa'' var. ''paradoxa'', or yellow coneflower, is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the

Ozarks The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant port ...

of Missouri and Arkansas. It is listed as imperiled in Arkansas. ''Echinacea paradoxa'' var. ''neglecta'', or Bush's purple coneflower, is currently only known to exist in the wild in the

Arbuckle Mountains The Arbuckle Mountains are an ancient mountain range in south-central Oklahoma in the United States. They lie in Murray, Carter, Pontotoc, and Johnston counties.

region of southeastern Oklahoma. One isolated population was reported from Montgomery County in eastern

. It is listed as critically imperiled in Oklahoma and presumed

extirpated Local extinction, also known as extirpation, refers to a species (or other taxon) of plant or animal that ceases to exist in a chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with global extinct ...

in Texas. Habitats include partially sunny to sunny savannas, glades, limestone outcroppings, barrens, open hillsides, and bald knobs.

Gallery

Image:Echinacea.paradoxa01.jpg, Illustration Image:Yellow Coneflower Echinacea paradoxa Horizontal 3008px.jpg, Flower Image:Echinacea paradoxa - yellow coneflower - desc-flower from above.jpg, Flower from above Image:Yellow Coneflower Echinacea paradoxa Single Flower Bee 1895px.jpg, Flower and a

bee Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyly, monophyletic lineage within the ...

Image:Yellow Coneflower Echinacea paradoxa Closeup Bee 3008px.jpg, Flower closeup with a bee

References

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q950562 Garden plants of North America Plants described in 1902 paradoxa Flora of the United States