Echinacea Tincture & Alcohol-Free Extract

Echinacea (Echinacea angustifolia), the narrow-leaved purple coneflower, is a perennial of the daisy family, Asteraceae, native to the dry prairies of the Great Plains from Saskatchewan and Montana south through the Dakotas and Nebraska to Texas, growing on rocky, limestone soils. It is shorter and sparer than its eastern cousin, 30 to 60 centimeters tall, with narrow, lance-shaped, bristly leaves and solitary heads of pale pink to purple rays that spread flat or droop around a spiny, cone-shaped, brown center. Below ground it forms a thick, dark, cylindrical taproot; chewed, the root produces a distinct tingling, numbing sensation on the tongue. We extract the dried root.