Echinacea angustifolia / Narrowleaf purple coneflower

Echinacea angustifolia DC.

Synonyms: = Echinacea pallida, Brauneria angustifolia

Common names: Narrowleaf purple coneflower, purple coneflower, Kansas snakeroot, blacksamson echinacea, comb plant

Comanche: d̥ukunənatsu (Carlson and Jones 1939:521)

Dakota: ichaḣpe-hu – “whip plant” (Gilmore 1977:79)

Kiowa: daiñ-pai-a / awdl-soñ-a (Vestal and Schultes 1939:57)

Meskwaki: shîka’wi / ashosikwimîa’kûk – “smells like a muskrat scent” / wetop – “to comb the hair” (Smith 1928:212)

Omaha-Ponca: mika-hi – “comb plant” (Gilmore 1977:79)

Omaha-Ponca: ikigahai – “to comb” / iⁿshtogaḣte-hi – “eye plant” (Gilmore 1977:79)

Pawnee: ksapitahako – “hand whirl” / saparidu kahts – “mushroom medicine” (Gilmore 1977:79)

Location in Texas: N, C, & SE TX; rare in Travis Co.

Form: herb; perennial.

Flowers: May-July (pink, purple).

Medicine

Juice – applied to burns for pain relief by the Dakota, Omaha, Ponca, Winnebago, and Pawnee (Gilmore 1977:79). It was also applied to the skin or mouth to prevent burns (Gilmore 1977:79).

Roots – a decoction was drunk by the Comanche to treat sore throat (Carlson and Jones 1939:521,533). A piece was held against a tooth to relieve toothache by the Comanche (Carlson and Jones 1939:521,533) and Lakota (Munson 1981:232). The root was used by the Lakota to treat tonsillitis and bowel pain (Munson 1981:232). The Meskwaki used it to treat stomach cramps and to “cure fits” (Smith 1928:212). For stomach cramps, the Meskwaki also mixed it with Asarum canadense [not in TX] roots, Euphorbia corollata roots, and Monarda punctata leaves (Smith 1928:212). The freshly scraped root was used by the Sioux to treat snakebite, sepsis, and rabies (Smith 1928:212).

[unspecified parts] – used to treat snake bites and other envenomated wounds by the Dakota, Omaha, Ponca, Pawnee (Gilmore 1977:79), and Sioux (Smith 1928:212). A piece was kept on an aching tooth to allay pain by the Dakota, Omaha, Ponca, and Pawnee (Gilmore 1977:79). Smoke was inhaled and bathed in to treat headache by the Dakota, Omaha, Ponca, and Pawnee (Gilmore 1977:79).

Notes – this plant was the most used medicine of the Dakota, Omaha, Ponca, and Pawnee (Gilmore 1977:79). The Pawnee names refer to its use as a children’s toy where one stalk was whirled about another around their seed heads, and the mushroom form of the flower head (Gilmore 1977:79).