Tennessee Coneflower
This purple coneflower evolved in the thin, hot soils of limestone cedar glades near Nashville and occurs naturally nowhere outside a small part of Middle Tennessee.
Artwork inspired by Catherine Wiley
This purple coneflower evolved in the thin, hot soils of limestone cedar glades near Nashville and occurs naturally nowhere outside a small part of Middle Tennessee. Open limestone cedar glades and barrens with shallow soil, intense sun, and limited competition. Periodic disturbance and protected glade openings prevent shrubs and invasive plants from closing its habitat.
Flowers mainly May through July; foliage and seed heads persist beyond peak bloom. Photograph from established paths; never pick flowers or step onto thin-soil glade communities. For Tennessee Coneflower, the cited federal or Tennessee wildlife source documents Tennessee as the endemic or core primary range.
- Primary range
- Tennessee
- Field mark
- forward-curving rays
- Habitat cue
- limestone cedar glades
Quick guide
- Recognition
- Upright pink-purple rays curve forward rather than drooping strongly around a dark cone.
- Where it belongs
- Open limestone cedar glades and barrens with shallow soil, intense sun, and limited competition.
Learn the species by reading its habitat
- Identification
- Upright pink-purple rays curve forward rather than drooping strongly around a dark cone.
- Habitat
- Open limestone cedar glades and barrens with shallow soil, intense sun, and limited competition.
- Ecology
- Periodic disturbance and protected glade openings prevent shrubs and invasive plants from closing its habitat.
- Observe responsibly
- Photograph from established paths; never pick flowers or step onto thin-soil glade communities.
Good to know
Photograph from established paths; never pick flowers or step onto thin-soil glade communities. This card is for habitat-aware learning, not a promise of a sighting.
Notice these
- forward-curving rays
- limestone cedar glades
- early-summer bloom