Echinacea purpurea ‘Kim’s Knee High’ (Purple coneflower)

Purple coneflowers are members of the aster family. This variety, ‘Kim’s Knee High,’ is a cultivar that is not found in the wild. All coneflowers are popular with butterflies.

Plants: 1–2′ (30–60 cm) tall and 1½–2′ (45–60 cm) around, with stems that are usually bristly or hairy.

Leaves: May be alternate or opposite, and may be ovate (sort of egg-shaped with a sharp tip) or more like a grass blade in shape, long and narrow. They are up to 6 ⨉ 3″ (15 ⨉ 7.6 cm), with widely spaced teeth and a sandpaper-like feel.

Flowers: These are composite flowers, resembling daisies, 2–5″ (5–12 cm) in diameter, with central yellow-brown disk flowers in a flattish or rounded mound, and 10-20 pink ray flower petals. On close inspection, the central disk flowers often have red tips. The ray flowers often droop, accentuating the central disk.

8/1/2009 · Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay, Maine · ≈ 2 × 3′ (60 × 90 cm)

8/1/2009 · Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay, Maine · ≈ 8 × 7″ (21 × 16 cm)

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin)
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Magnoliopsida	Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves
Subclass	Asteridae	A large class that encompasses asters
Order	Asterales	Flowering plants with a central disk flower and surrounding petals, like daisies
Family	Asteraceae	The aster family, which also includes daisies and sunflowers; from the Greek ἀστήρ, “star,” for the star-shaped flowers
Genus	Echinacea	From the Greek word echinos (Εχίνος), ”hedgehog,” because the central disk flower has the spiny look of a hedgehog
Species	purpurea	“Purple”

About plant names...

Range: Zones 3-8:

About this map...

Echinacea purpurea ‘Kim’s Knee High’ description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.