Smooth Purple Coneflower

Echinacea laevigata

Native to South Carolina (estimated)

Federally listed species. Excluded from routine garden suggestions. Consult conservation guidance before obtaining or planting this species. Plant caution source

Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.

Echinacea laevigata — flower photograph — no rights reserved · CC0 · Original photograph · iNaturalist medium image; no additional crop, retouching, or re-encoding.

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

2CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including SC

Genus host records with ranges including SC · Echinacea

Homoeosoma electellaSunflower Moth
Papaipema nebrisStalk Borer

Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)

34BeesSoutheastern regional records

Southeastern regional records · Echinacea

Individual names are not available yet.

Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0

12Specialist beesPollen specialists

Pollen specialists · Echinacea

Andrena rudbeckiae
Megachile inimica
Megachile parallela
Megachile pugnata
Megachile xylocopoides
Melissodes coreopsis
Melissodes desponsus
Melissodes subagilis
Melissodes subillatus
Melissodes trinodis

Show all 12

Paranthidium jugatorium
Protandrena albitarsis

Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0

—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family: Asteraceae
Hardiness: Zones 3a–8b
Soil pH: Neutral to alkaline
Flower color: Pink or purple

Growing sources and scope

Flower color · “Pink or purple” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Hardiness · “Zones 3a–8b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Height · “3–5 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Life cycle · “Perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Soil · “Moist; Occasionally dry” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Soil pH · “Neutral to alkaline” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Spread · “1–1.5 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox

Conservation status

South Carolina rank	Not available
Global rank	G2G3
SC status	Not verified
Federal status	LT

Conservation source Global and federal source

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