Am.  Jour.  Pbariu.  1 
May,  1910.  / 
Echinacea. 
225 
supply  of  echinacea  root :  Brauneria  purpurea,  the  purple  cone 
flower,  and  Brauneria  pallida,  pale  purple  cone  flower,  the  former 
growing  from  Western  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia  to  Illinois  and 
southward,  and  the  latter  from  Illinois  and  Wisconsin  southward. 
They  are  perennial  herbs  with  stout  and  nearly  simple  stems, 
terminated  by  a  single  large  head.  The  name  cone  flower  is  derived 
from  the  conical  torus,  which  is  covered  with  a  lanceolate,  spiny- 
tipped  chaff,  longer  than  the  disk  florets.  The  ray  florets  are 
about  5  cm.  long,  drooping,  pistillate  but  sterile,  and  usually  rose- 
purple  in  color. 
The  dried  root  is  the  part  used  medicinally,  and  has  the  fol- 
lowing characteristics:  Root  of  vertical  growth,  usually  in  pieces 
5  to  20  cm.  long,  0.5  to  3  cm.  in  diameter;  crown  branched,  the 
branches  somewhat  annulate  above  and  with  stem  scars,  rarely 
stem  remnants  present ;  dark  brown  to  blackish  externally,  slightly 
tapering-,  sometimes  twisted,  deeply  longitudinally  wrinkled ;  frac- 
ture short,  weak;  bark  thin,  0.5  mm.  or  less  in  diameter,  and  brown- 
ish ;  wood  radiate  from  the  numerous  greenish-yellow  wood  wedges ; 
parenchymatous  tissue  dark  gray  to  blackish ;  odor  distinctly  and 
peculiarly  aromatic,  characteristic;  taste  pungent,  somewhat  acrid, 
producing  a  profuse  flow  of  saliva,  followed  by  a  tingling  sensation 
and  slight  numbness. 
The  powder  may  be  described  as  follows :  Light  grayish-brown ; 
tracheae  numerous,  lignified,  15  to  20fx  in  diameter,  with  simple 
pores,  or  20  to  50^  in  diameter  and  scarlariform ;  wood  fibres 
usually  single  or  in  groups  of  2  or  3,  250  to  600^  long,  20  to  30M 
in  diameter,  the  average  being'  300^  long  and  25/x  in  diameter, 
strongly  lignified  and  with  numerous  simple  pores  ;  cork  cells  ir- 
regular and  deep  reddish-brown ;  parenchyma  of  cortex  irregular 
and  with  yellowish-  or  reddish-brown  resinous  contents ;  fragments 
of  resin  cells  with  suberized  walls  and  a  pale  yellowish  resin  which 
is  changed  to  greenish-yellow  by  KOH,  breaking  up  into  small 
globules  and  apparently  dissolving.  When  mounted  in  concentrated 
H2S04  the  fragments  of  parenchymatous  tissue  assume  a  reddish- 
brown  color  which  gradually  deepens.    Stone  cells  are  absent. 
The  spurious  root  has  the  following  characteristics :  Somewhat 
conical  crown,  3  to  10  cm.  long,  1  to  4  cm.  in  diameter,  tapering 
upward  and  terminated  by  a  stem  scar  or  stem  remnant ;  dull  brown 
to  blackish  externally  and  finely  wrinkled ;  base  spherical  and 
giving  rise  to  several  fusiform  roots  of  horizontal  growth,  5  to  15 
