Georgia Wildlife Federation

Resources < Wildlife Habitats < Guide to Native Plants of Georgia for Wildlife < Echinacea pallida

Coneflower
Echinacea pallida

Pale Coneflower, like most of our native prairie plants, is functional in the landscape with or without intensive management. It is a deeply tap rooted herbaceous perennial which can seek and find water in conditions that would kill many plants, especially non-natives without root systems adapted to Georgia’s hot and dry summers. Pale Coneflower is taller growing than commonly used Coneflowers like the Purple Coneflower, and also has a more narrow, grass-like foliage. It makes an excellent companion to other Coneflowers, Rudbeckia, Sunflowers, and native grasses in a prairie garden. It also works well to naturalize the plant in a meadow or on hillsides which may be too dry and difficult for other plants. Butterflies are readily attracted to the beautiful, long-blooming flowers of this long-lived, versatile plant.

Coneflowers have an important medicinal history. Early Native Americans used the root and above-ground parts of the plant to strengthen the immune system. The plant is still used today as an herbal supplement for this purpose, although its relative the Purple Coneflower (E. purpurea) is more well-known.

FAMILY: Asteraceae (Sunflower)

DESCIPTION: Herbaceous, tap rooted perennial with a rosette of near-evergreen, grass-like leaves. Large flowers from late spring to fall have narrow drooping pale-pink petals 3-5” long. The globular green/red/purple/brown spiny centers turn dry, dark, and fill with prickly seed in the fall.

HABIT: Rosetted herbaceous perennial

PLANTING AND CARING: Pale Coneflower is a tough plant that can tolerate most situations as long as it is given ample sun. It is drought tolerant, with an extensive root system that can take a great deal of abuse.

ORNAMENTAL USE: Assets include the height compared to other Coneflower species as well as the drooping, light purple petals and the long bloom time.

LANDSCAPE USE: Pale Coneflower looks best when allowed to clump naturally and is easy to naturalize because of its toughness. It also looks great in large plantings or mixed in with other sunflower relatives (Jerusalem Artichoke, Sunflower, other Coneflowers, Goldenrod, Rudbeckia, etc.) and native grasses (Indiangrass, Switchgrass) in a prairie garden or unmowed meadow.

HABITAT: Thin/piney woods, rocky glades, and prairies in the Eastern US, but rare east of the Mississippi River

WILDLIFE BENEFITS: The foliage of the plants is relished by deer year-round. Echinacea is an important nectar source for many bees, wasps, and butterflies during the hot summer months. It is a foliar host for the caterpillars of the Lynx Flower Moth and the Silvery Checkerspot.