Seed: Fertilized disc florets produce an off-white to grayish dry cypsela, 3.5 to 5 mm long, pyramidal in shape, bluntly concave on the wide end, usually smooth surfaced. The outer head of the flower has a series of green floral bracts (phyllaries) that are narrow and pointed, hairy, and recurve from the head when it is in flower. The central disc, while hemispheric, is flattened on top prior to the inner florets opening and seed formation beginning, then a dome shape forms. The disc florets have 5 stamens which tightly surround the single style, which are exserted from the floret when it opens. The disc florets are bisexual and fertile and have tubular corollas with lobes that vary from greenish to pink to purple. The rays vary on different plants from pink to purple. The ray florets number 10 to 20 with sparse hair on the underside of the ray and are neuter as to sex. The flower is a composite head, 2 1/2 to 4 inches wide with reddish purple spreading to slightly drooping rays, each 1/4 to 1/3 inch (6 to 10 mm) wide, and a very bristly central disc. The floral array is an individual flower head on a tall smooth stalk atop the stem. Stalks are very long on basal leaves, shorter on upper stem leaves and all are winged. Upper stem leaves are shorter and can have teeth. The longer lower basal leaves being 5x as long as wide and usually with entire margins and in Spring a clump of basal leaves is put up by the roots. The leaves have a few teeth and hairy on both sides, lanceolate in shape, with pointed tips. Eastern Purple Coneflower is an introduced (native in some areas of North America - see below) erect perennial forb growing 2 to 5 feet in height on stems that usually do not branch and are green to brownish-green with some purple streaks and a few hair.
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