ECHINACEA ANGUSTIFOLIA/

ECHINACEA PURPUREA
MONOGRAPH

Eminé N. Turan
When I first moved to the US at
age 24, away from home and no
Mom to take care of you when
you have colds and flu, a
German friend introduced me to
Echinacea.
If you can catch it and take a
dropper at the very onset of the
cold-flu symptoms with some
1000mg Vitamin C it indeed
worked wonders and protected
my family and me from getting
sick.
Well, maybe the constant warm
climate of California also helped
but that’s why I wanted my first
monograph on herbs to be this
specific one.
 Family: Asteraceae (a.k.a Compositae). It is a huge plant family (currently 479
species), and they all have the similar flowers. Coneflowers are related to
sunflowers (Helianthus), daisies (Leucanthemum), asters, mums (Chrysanthemum),
zinnias and many other " aster" like plants. Echinacea has nine species.

Taste/Smell: Root is slightly sweet, then bitter, pungent, aromatic, dry tingling
(diffusive) sensation of the tongue and mucous membranes with most species.
Parts Used: Roots, flowers, and leaves.
History: Echinacea being one of the most
popular herbs in America today, it is native to
prairies in the eastern and central part of
North America. .
A Native American medicinal plant
with a large conical seed head,
which looks like the spines of
hedgehog or sea urchin and is
called (echinos) in Greek.
It’s been used for over 400 years to
treat infections, to treat snake bites,
fevers and old, stubborn wounds
and as a general "cure-all” plant.
Early settlers soon adopted the
plant as a home remedy for colds
and flu, and the 19th-century
eclectics made Echinacea a staple
remedy.
Echinacea in the past 50 years, has
achieved fame for its antiviral and
antibacterial properties.
 Energetics:cooling,drying, stimulating.

Properties:
• Immune-stimulant
• Alterative (Blood Purifier)
• Lymphatic
• Depurative
• Antiviral/Antibacterial
• Anti-inflammatory
• Anti-venomous

Tissue States: depression, irritation

Degree of Action: 3 rd.

Key Uses: For topical application to wounds,

bites and stings and infections.
For fighting viral infections.
Common names:
For strengthening and clearing lymph nodes.
Cone Flower
Clinical Uses:
Paul Bergner states possibly the worst effect of
taking Echinacea to suppress every cold or
infection that comes down the line is that this
injures the vital force of the person. “It is a law
of health that chronic suppression of acute
symptoms will cause a chronic disease.”He
also suggests that stopping the messenger,
which might be a cold or the flu allows people
postpone the necessary lifestyle changes they
might need to do and then the messenger
comes back with something more severe than a
cold or the flu.
Aviva Romm recommends it for flu prevention
starting at age 2 with children and finds it safe
for pregnant women as well. She also uses a
protocol for women with an acute UTI and
prevention of chronic UTI.
 
  Studies:
  I found several cross-references:
. In an open 5-month clinical study of 4598
patients, a salve prepared from the juice of the
high portion of E. purpurea was reported to
have a %85 success rate in the treatment of
some skin conditions, among them Herpes
simplex eruptions. Romm, Aviva.M.D.
Although Echinacea was initially was
promoted successfully treating venereal
diseases, when herpes was clinically studied it
was useful in vitro, however, failed to show
any activity against herpes in 50 people with
the virus. Phaneuf, Holly, PhD
While the newer studies look unsupportive and
valid of Echinacea, it’s always good to keep in
mind that studies on commercial products are
often funded by the company selling the
products (sometimes in a very roundabout
way), which has a tendency to bias the
experimenter’s opinion of it.
Constituents:

Alkylamides

Caffeic acid
derivatives –cichoric
acid

Polysaccharides

Xanthoxylin

Volatile oils, resins

Flavonoids incl.
Quercetinl

Trace elements incl.

Zn, Fe, Ca, Mn.
 
 
Dosage and Method of Delivery:
Standard decoction: 2-4 oz 3 times daily
Tincture: Fresh root for E.angustifolia, fresh
herb for E.purpurea (1:2,95%alcohol);
Dried root for E.angustifolia, dried herb for
E.purpurea(1:5,60%alcohol);
1-5 ml (0.2-1 tsp.) 3-6 times daily
Easley,Thomas

Cautions and Contraindications:

Use very cautiously on auto-immune disorders
Not to be taken during Lukemia.
Overuse either dosage and/or time frame wise
can lead to an exaggerated white blood cell
count.
There are also environmental factors due to
contamination due to spraying and
overharvesting.
If allergic to Ragweed (Asteraceae) Echinacea
too being from the same family can cause
allergic reactions.
 References & Links to Articles:
http://medherb.com/Therapeutics/Immune_-_Herbal_antibiotic_formulas.htm
https://avivaromm.com/flu-season-hits-hard-again/
   
Wood, Matthew. 2008.
The Earthwise Herbal, A Complete Guide to Old World Medicinal Plants.
Berkeley, CA. North Atlantic Books.
 
Easley,Thomas& Horne,Steven. 2016. TheModern Herbal Dispensatory, a
Medicine-Making Guide. Berkeley, CA. North Atlantic Books.
 
Romm,Aviva. 2014.
Botanical Medicine for Women’s Health.
CHURCHILL LIVINGSTONE Elsevier
 
Phaneuf, Holly,PhD. 2005.
Herbs Demystifiedç Da Capo Press
E.Speroni,P.Govoni,S.Guizzardi, C. Renzulli,and M.C. Guerra “Anti-
inflammatuary and cicatrizing activity of Echinacea Pallida Nutt. Root extract”,
J EthnoPharmacol 2002 Feb, 79(2):265-72