COMPOSITE FAMILY 



COMPOSITAE 



NARROW-LEAVED PURPLE CONEFLOWER 



Brauneria angustifolia (DC.) Heller 



Three Purple Coneflowers occur in Illinois and since they 

 are often confused their differences may well be noted. All are 

 handsome perennials with thick black roots and stout stems 



which are naked near the top and 

 bear a single large head of many 

 flowers. Usually ray and disk 

 flowers are purple and only the 

 disk flowers produce akenes. 

 The bracts of the involucre are 

 lanceolate and somewhat spread- 

 ing. The receptacle is cone 

 shaped and the chaff on it spiny tipped and 

 longer than the disk flowers. The akenes are 

 thick, short and 4-sided, and the pappus con- 

 sists of a short border or crown with small 

 teeth. 



The Narrow-leaved Purple Coneflower 

 grows in dry prairie and open places from 

 Minnesota to Saskatchewan and Illinois to 

 Texas. It has a very rough, hairy stem 1-2 

 feet high. The leaves are entire, narrowly 

 lanceolate and hairy. They are strongly 3- 



nerved; the lower are slender petioled whereas the upper may be 



sessile. 



The heads, blooming from June to October, contain 12-20 



purplish to white rays which are sterile, and very many reddish 



purple perfect disk flowers. The ray flowers are usually not more 



than I inch long and do not droop much. 



Most commonly confused with the narrow-leaved species is the 

 Pale Purple Coneflower, Brauneria pallida (Nutt.) Britton, probably 

 the commonest of the three in Illinois. It is very similar but often 

 taller, sometimes 3 feet high, and the commonly paler ray flowers 

 are narrow and longer, up to 3 inches, and strongly drooping. 



The third species is the Purple Coneflower, Brauneria purpurea 

 (DC.) Britton, which has a smooth stem 2-5 feet high, and broader 

 lower and basal leaves that are usually 5-nerved. toothed and either 

 narrowed or somewhat heart shaped at the base. Petioles of the lower 

 leaves are mostly winged at the summit. The uppermost leaves are 3- 

 nerved, sessile or nearly so and often entire. The heads are very 

 similar to those of the pale species, but the 12-20 rays are deeper pur- 

 ple, 1^-3 inches long and spreading. 



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