Echinacia also known as cone flower, pops up just about anywhere. It is attractive, so it ends up in a lot of gardens.
Echinacia is one of the few known antivirals. It also supports the immune system and is mildly antibiotic. It is one of the most effective herbal remedies known.
So what does this mighty medicine look like? When I was out wildcrafting, I found this:
The roots are the medicine in these plants. I didn't need to dig this up, as I have plenty of this in stock already. If you are wildcrafting, remember to leave more roots than you take. Spreading some around will spread the patch size to help later harvest volumes.
I found some more Purple Cone Flowers (Echinacia) growing with some fennel. It was a nice combination....
Fennel is also an herbal used for digestion, colic, expectorant, bronchitis, sedative, and appetite suppression.
People are using Echinacia to treat; HIV, leukopenia, resperatory problems, UTIs, Lyme disease, colds and flu, TB, Whooping cough, gonorrhea, lymph enlargement, diphtheria, and measles, to mention a few. I have two full pages of things being treated by Echinacia, but you can look that up; so I won't bore you any more, LOL!
Note: if you have an autoimmune problem, avoid taking Echinacia, as it will strengthen your immune system!
Here are some Echinacia flowers with some hydrangea (used to treat bladder problems, gout, prostatitis, arthritis, rheumatism, kidney and bladder stones, and calcium deposits) an herbal in it's own right
These purple cone flowers are easy to spot, and the roots make excellent medicine. So keep your eye out for them, they are good in your herbal first aid kit!