Echinacea

Echinacea purpurea

A North American prairie coneflower — the West's best-known immune herb, most useful at the very first sign of a cold.

At a glance

Earthy, slightly sweet root with a characteristic tongue-tingling alkamide kick. Decoction is amber and faintly resinous.

First-sign cold tincture
Sore-throat lozenges
Immune-support winter tea
Topical wound wash (traditional)

Modern research

Tradition

One of the most-used medicinal plants of the Great Plains nations — the Lakota, Cheyenne, and Comanche used the root for snakebite, toothache, and burns. Adopted by 19th-century Eclectic American physicians as a leading septic-condition remedy.

Modern evidence

A Cochrane review of 24 trials concluded that some echinacea preparations modestly shorten the duration of common colds. Effect size is small and product-dependent — species and plant part matter.