- Region
- North America
- Origin
- Areas east of the Rocky Mountains, North America
North America · Herb · № 14
Echinacea purpurea
Herb · North America
Echinacea
Echinacea purpurea
Studied for colds and respiratory infections. It may slightly reduce the chance of catching a cold; effects on duration and other conditions are uncertain.
Safety notes
May cause allergic reactions, sometimes severe. Use caution with related-plant allergies and possible medicine interactions.
Cautions by tradition (4)
- Herbs for viral infections: Not with autoimmune diseases such as MS.
- Natural skin and hair care: Not with an allergy to the daisy family (such as ragweed or daisies) or with an autoimmune disease. The tincture contains alcohol.
- Lakota (Teton Sioux) medicine: Not with an allergy to the daisy family or an autoimmune disease. A snakebite needs a doctor.
- Western herbs in Chinese medicine: Not with an allergy to the daisy family. Choose cultivated echinacea.
Preparation
Sold as different extracts and supplements; species and preparations vary. Follow product directions and seek advice when taking medicines.
Use in traditions
NCCIH describes medicinal use of Echinacea purpurea by Native American communities, including for respiratory complaints, tooth pain, and snakebite; practices varied.
Applications
Use by tradition
How different herbal traditions describe this herb. Amounts are traditional guidelines checked for obvious errors; they are not medical advice. For poisonous plants no dosage is given on purpose.
Herbal medicine worldwide
Attributed effects
Antibiotic, immune-stimulating, anti-allergic, lymphatic tonic.
Preparation and amount
Tincture 2–5 ml every 2–3 hours for the first days of flu, chills and urinary infections; 10 ml for food or animal poisoning; decoction 10 ml every 1–2 hours; powder on boils and infected eczema; gargle with 10 ml tincture in warm water for sore throat.
Western herbalism
Attributed effects
Cleansing, antiseptic, stimulating, tonic, induces sweating; purifies the blood, reduces infection and pus in wounds, stimulates the immune system and white blood cells, restores appetite.
Preparation and amount
Capsules: 600 mg 3 times a day; decoction: 1–2 tsp per cup, 8–12 min, 1–6 cups a day; tincture 10–60 drops 1–6 times a day; poultice or compress 3–4 times a day; especially in the first days of a cold.
Herbs for viral infections
Attributed effects
Immune-stimulating and possibly directly antiviral; especially for viral bronchitis, colds and upper respiratory infections; also flu, urinary infections, vaginal thrush, genital herpes, gum disease, acne, psoriasis, sinusitis.
Preparation and amount
Juice 6–9 ml (maximum 8 weeks), capsule 100 mg 3 times a day or tablet 3 times a day; tea from dried root (dried for 2 weeks) with 240 ml water.
Caution: Not with autoimmune diseases such as MS.
Natural skin and hair care
Attributed effects
Used at the first signs of a cold; research shows at most a small effect on how long colds last or how likely they are.
Preparation and amount
Internal: root or herb in a tea and a tincture for the start of a cold (see the recipes).
Caution: Not with an allergy to the daisy family (such as ragweed or daisies) or with an autoimmune disease. The tincture contains alcohol.
Lakota (Teton Sioux) medicine
Attributed effects
For toothache, bowel pain and tonsillitis (Bear-with-White-Paw). Gilmore calls it the remedy used for more ailments than any other, including snakebite.
Preparation and amount
The root of narrow-leaved echinacea (Echinacea angustifolia); hold a piece on an aching tooth.
Caution: Not with an allergy to the daisy family or an autoimmune disease. A snakebite needs a doctor.
Western herbs in Chinese medicine
Attributed effects
Cools heat, neutralizes 'toxin' and drives heat out from the blood. Echinacea came into Chinese medicine from the Americas. Because it is widely cultivated, wild populations are under less pressure.
Preparation and amount
In Chinese terms echinacea opens the surface without necessarily inducing sweating (shu biao).
Combinations
- With elder, sarsaparilla, sassafras and cleavers for damp-hot rashes
- With feverfew and cayenne pepper for heat in the blood with a blotchy rash
- With yarrow, usnea and dandelion leaf for damp heat in the bladder
- With yerba mansa, goldenseal and Chinese skullcap for yellow or green phlegm in the sinuses and for inflamed swellings and wounds
Caution: Not with an allergy to the daisy family. Choose cultivated echinacea.
Folklore and herbal magic
Symbolic meanings from folk use and modern herbal magic. These are handed-down associations, not effects.
Keeps love fresh, fertility, preserving youth, abundance, strengthens other herbs, healing.
Herbal magic and rituals
Attributed effects
In herbal magic associated with strength, health and strengthening spells.
Preparation and amount
Echinacea was one of the most important medicinal plants of the peoples of the Great Plains, such as the Lakota and Cheyenne, who used the root for snakebite, toothache and wounds. Through the Eclectic physicians of the nineteenth century the plant entered Western herbal medicine.
- Ways to prepare herbs
- Tea (infusion)DecoctionTinctureCompress, poultice and pastePowder and kitchen
Tags
Sources
- www.nccih.nih.gov
- Melvin R. Gilmore, Uses of Plants by the Indians of the Missouri River Region (1919)
- Owen Jackson, Chinese Herbal Medicine (2020)
- Penelope Ody, The Complete Medicinal Herbal (1993; 2017)
- Stacey Dugliss-Wesselman & Susan Gregg, Herbal Remedies Made Simple (2018)
- Frances Densmore, Teton Sioux Music (1918)