Echinacea

echinacea (ĕk'ənā`shēə), popular herbal remedy, or botanical, believed to benefit the immune system. It is used especially to alleviate common colds and the flu, but several controlled studies using it as a cold medicine have failed to find any benefit from its use. Echinacea is extracted from the roots and flowering tops of the purple coneflower (Echinacea angustifolia and E. purpurea).

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echinacea

Any member of the coneflower genus Echinacea. Commonly called the purple coneflower, echinacea is used as a border plant. The leaves and roots are used in herbal remedies to boost the immune system and in the treatment of colds and flu.

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Echinacea [‚ek·ə′nā·shə]

(invertebrate zoology)

A suborder of echinoderms in the order Euechinoidea; individuals have a rigid test, keeled teeth, and branchial slits.

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Echinacea 

(purple coneflower), a genus of perennial herbaceous plants of the family Compositae. The stems reach 1–1.5 m in height, and the inflorescences are large heads. The ray flowers are purple, crimson, or, less commonly, whitish; the disk flowers are blackish purple. There are about five species, distributed in North America. The plants have bactericidal properties and are ornamentals. E. purpurea and E. angustifolia are cultivated. Sometimes the Echinacea are included in the genus Rudbeckia.