Echinacea
Echinacea purpurea
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Asterales Family: Asteraceae Tribe: Heliantheae Genus: Echinacea
Species
See text Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1280x960, 783 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Echinacea Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create... For other uses, see Scientific classification (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Plant (disambiguation). ... Classes Magnoliopsida - Dicots Liliopsida - Monocots The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of land plants. ... Orders See text. ... Families Alseuosmiaceae Argophyllaceae Asteraceae - Daisies Calyceraceae Campanulaceae (incl. ... Diversity About 1500 genera and 23,000 species Type Genus Aster L. Subfamilies Barnadesioideae Cichorioideae Tribe Arctotidae Tribe Cardueae Tribe Eremothamneae Tribe Lactuceae Tribe Liabeae Tribe Mutisieae Tribe Tarchonantheae Tribe Vernonieae Asteroideae Tribe Anthemideae Tribe Astereae Tribe Calenduleae Tribe Eupatorieae Tribe Gnaphalieae Tribe Helenieae Tribe Heliantheae Tribe Inuleae Tribe Plucheae... Species See text The Helianthus L. genus comprises 67 species and several subspecies in the Asteraceae family, all of which are native to North America. ...

Echinacea commonly called the Purple coneflowers, is a genus of nine species of herbaceous plants in the Family Asteraceae. All are strictly native to eastern and central North America. The plants have large showy heads of composite flowers, blooming from early to late summer. Some species are used in herbal medicines. This article is about the plants used in cooking and medicine. ... Diversity About 1500 genera and 23,000 species Type Genus Aster L. Subfamilies Barnadesioideae Cichorioideae Tribe Arctotidae Tribe Cardueae Tribe Eremothamneae Tribe Lactuceae Tribe Liabeae Tribe Mutisieae Tribe Tarchonantheae Tribe Vernonieae Asteroideae Tribe Anthemideae Tribe Astereae Tribe Calenduleae Tribe Eupatorieae Tribe Gnaphalieae Tribe Helenieae Tribe Heliantheae Tribe Inuleae Tribe Plucheae... North America North America is a continent[1] in the Earths northern hemisphere and (chiefly) western hemisphere. ... Herbalism is a traditional medicinal or folk medicine practice based on the use of plants and plant extracts. ...

E. purpurea flower centre

The genus name is from the Greek echino, meaning "spiny", due to the spiny central disk. They are herbaceous, drought-tolerant perennial plants growing to 1 or 2 m in height. The leaves are lanceolate to elliptic, 10–20 cm long and 1.5–10 cm broad. Like all Asteraceae, the flowers are a composite inflorescence, with purple (rarely yellow or white) florets arranged in a prominent, somewhat cone-shaped head; "cone-shaped" because the petals of the outer ray florets tend to point downward (are reflexed) once the flower head opens, thus forming a cone.
Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1280x914, 198 KB) author: darrell. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1280x914, 198 KB) author: darrell. ... This article is about the plants used in cooking and medicine. ... Red Valerian, a perennial plant. ... Look up foliage in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For other uses, see Flower (disambiguation). ... Red clover inflorescence (spike) An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers on a branch of a plant. ... Example of a flower head. ...

A Bee on an Echinacea paradoxa flower

Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 532 pixelsFull resolution (3008 × 2000 pixel, file size: 1. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 532 pixelsFull resolution (3008 × 2000 pixel, file size: 1. ... For other uses, see Western honey bee and Bee (disambiguation). ...

Species

The species of Echinacea are:

• Echinacea angustifolia - Narrow-leaf Coneflower
• Echinacea atrorubens - Topeka Purple Coneflower
• Echinacea laevigata - Smooth Coneflower, Smooth Purple Coneflower
• Echinacea pallida - Pale Purple Coneflower
• Echinacea paradoxa - Yellow Coneflower, Bush's Purple Coneflower
• Echinacea purpurea - Purple Coneflower, Eastern Purple Coneflower
• Echinacea sanguinea - Sanguine purple coneflower
• Echinacea simulata - Wavyleaf Purple Coneflower
• Echinacea tennesseensis - Tennessee Coneflower

The spiny flower center from which the name derives

Species See text. ... Binomial name Fruits Echinacea atrorubens - Topeka Purple Coneflower is a herbaceous perennial plant growing from 50 to 90 cm tall from elongate-turbinate roots that are sometimes branched. ... Binomial name (Boynton and Beadle) Blake Echinacea laevigata, the smooth purple coneflower, is a federally listed endangered plant found in the piedmont of the southeastern United States. ... Binomial name Synonyms Rudbeckia pallida Nutt. ... Binomial name (J.B.S.Norton) Britt. ... Binomial name Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench Echinacea purpurea (Eastern purple coneflower; syn. ... Binomial name Fruits Echinacea simulata McGregor, Sida. ... Binomial name Echinacea tennesseensis (Beadle) Small The Tennessee coneflower (Echinacea tennesseensis) is endemic to the cedar glades of middle Tennessee. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (850x567, 81 KB) Other versions none File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Echinacea ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (850x567, 81 KB) Other versions none File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Echinacea ...

Immunostimulant effects

Echinacea is popularly believed to be an immunostimulator, stimulating the body's immune system and warding off infections, particularly the common cold. However, its clinical efficacy has not been established.^[1] Immunostimulators are the drugs which stimulate the immune system by inducing activation or increasing activity of any of its components. ... A scanning electron microscope image of a single neutrophil (yellow), engulfing anthrax bacteria (orange). ... An infection is the detrimental colonization of a host organism by a foreign species. ... // Acute viral nasopharyngitis, or acute coryza, usually known as the common cold, is a highly contagious, viral infectious disease of the upper respiratory system, primarily caused by picornaviruses or coronaviruses. ...

History

Echinacea angustifolia rhizome was used by North American Plains Indians, perhaps more than most other plants, for various herbal remedies. Echinacea was one of the basic antimicrobial herbs of Eclectic medicine in the mid 1800s through the early 1900s and its use was documented for snakebite and anthrax. In the 1930s "Echinacea" became popular in both Europe and America as a herbal medicine. Native Americans redirects here. ... Look up Eclectic in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Year 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Active substances

The full spectrum of echinacea's chemical components responsible for its health effects are not well understood. Like most crude drugs from plant or animal origin, the constituent base is complex and some parts may be directly antimicrobial while others work at stimulating or modulating different parts of the immune system. All species have chemical compounds called phenols, which are common to many other plants. Both the phenol compounds Cichoric and caftaric are present in E. purpurea, other phenols include echinacoside, which is found in greater levels within E. angustifolia and E. pallida roots than in other species. When making herbal remedies, these phenols can serve as markers to evaluate the quantity of echinacea in the product. Other chemical constituents that may be important in echinacea health effects include alkylamides and polysaccharides. // 1916 Eli Lilly crude drug case for pharmacy students to study: contains 216 different specimens Crude Drug[1]: any naturally occuring unrefined subtance derived from organic or inorganic sources such as plant, animal, bacteria, organs or whole organisms intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of... In organic chemistry, phenols, sometimes called phenolics, are a class of chemical compounds consisting of a hydroxyl group (-OH) attached to an aromatic hydrocarbon group. ... Polysaccharides (sometimes called glycans) are relatively complex carbohydrates. ...

Root or whole plant

A medical study (Taylor et al. 2003^[2].) found that when echinacea products made from the entire plant (not just the root) were taken after the second cold symptom appeared they provided no measurable beneficial effect for children in treating the severity or duration of symptoms caused by the common cold virus. Dosage however was about a third of what clinical herbalists routinely use, and the leaves and stems are not known to be clinically effective. Studies by the University of Virginia School of Medicine (Turner, 2005 ^[3]) confirmed these results, and added that Echinacea had no clinically significant effects on the common cold even if taken immediately upon infection, or as a prophylaxis starting a week prior to symptoms of infection. However, a University of Maryland review of available studies concluded that Echinacea, when taken at first sign of a cold, reduced cold symptoms or shortened their duration. This conclusion was based on 13 European studies.^[4] The University of Maryland study also found that three of four studies concluded that taking Echinacea to prevent a cold was ineffective, although including studies that use subclinical doses, the wrong part or unassayed material will bias such conclusions. Another scientific review, however, of 14 published studies found that the incidence of colds was reduced by 58% and the duration by a day and half.^[5] Prophylaxis refers to any medical or public health procedure whose purpose is to prevent, rather than treat or cure, disease. ...

Alcohol-based or dry

Leading herbalists claim that many studies do not distinguish between alcohol-based echinacea tinctures, which retain potency for up to seven years after production, and capsules containing the dried herb, which lose their efficacy over time.^{[citation needed]} Capsules not only lose strength, but must be digested in the stomach while alcohol tinctures enter the lymphatic system through the tongue.

Frequency of administration

Proponents of echinacea assert that it is not a "one-dose" treatment, and that in order to work effectively, a dose should be taken at the very first sign of a cold symptom. Subsequent doses must be taken every two to four hours after the first dose, including every two to four hours during the overnight sleeping period, until the cold symptoms have disappeared (generally within 24 hours.) The scientific studies stated above appear to disagree with these claims as ad hoc rationalising; if the cold doesn't go away when expected, the patient can always be blamed for not following the strict regimen, and the product is never to blame. This is known as subjective validation.

Species

Not all species of Echinacea are equally effective. A Cochrane review of the published studies ^[6] has found that there is some evidence of benefit in the treatment (but not prevention) of the common cold by the aerial parts of Echinacea purpurea; other formulations of the plant did not show the same effect, and no formulation was effective for prevention.

Contraindications

Echinacea herbals should not be taken by persons with progressive systemic and auto-immune disorders such as tuberculosis, leicosis, connective tissue disorders, collagenosis, and related diseases such as lupus erythematosus, according to the German Kommission E. Its use in AIDS or against opportunistic infections in AIDS patients is controversial: the Kommission E recommend against it. ^[7]. It should not be used with other known hepatotoxic drugs such as anabolic steroids, amiodarone (Pacerone^® or Cordarone^®), methotrexate, or ketoconazole (Nizoral^®) ^[8]. Tuberculosis (abbreviated as TB for tubercle bacillus or Tuberculosis) is a common and deadly infectious disease caused by mycobacteria, mainly Mycobacterium tuberculosis. ... For other uses, see AIDS (disambiguation). ... Crystal structure of human sex hormone-binding globulin, transporting 5-alpha-dihydrotestosterone. ... Amiodarone belongs to a class of drugs called Vaughan-Williams Class III antiarrhythmic agent. ... Amethopterin redirects here. ... Ketoconazole is a synthetic antifungal drug used to prevent and treat skin and fungal infections, especially in immunocompromised patients such as those with AIDS. Due to its side-effect profile, it has been superseded by newer antifungals, such as fluconazole and itraconazole. ...

Other uses

Medical

Echinacea may, in addition to common cold, be useful when treating Athlete's foot with Econazole, or in cancer treatment^[9]. Athletes foot or Tinea pedis[1] is a parasitic fungal infection of the epidermis of the foot. ... Econazole nitrate is an antifungal medication of the imidazole class. ...

Others

Some species of Echinacea, notably P. purpurea, E. angustifolia, and E. pallida, are grown as ornamental plants in gardens^[10] They tolerate a wide variety of conditions, maintain attractive foliage throughout the season, and multiply rapidly. Appropriate species are used in prairie restorations. Petunia This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Prairie (disambiguation). ...

References

A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a standard for persistently identifying a piece of intellectual property on a digital network and associating it with related data, the metadata, in a structured extensible way. ... A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a standard for persistently identifying a piece of intellectual property on a digital network and associating it with related data, the metadata, in a structured extensible way. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 188th day of the year (189th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Echinacea - the wonder herb (reprinted from The Skeptic Winter 2007)