Orange Meadowbright is a hybrid that took this guy, last name of Alt, years to perfect at the Chicago Botanic Garden. It will not come true from seed, all the Orange Meadowbright in existence today are cloned plants, or divisions of cloned plants.

If you want "natural" echinacea, then you'd be looking for echinacea purpurea. April

If you're willing to grow from seed, straight Echinacea purpurea is readily available. The named cultivars 'Magnus', 'Rubinstern' (not sure about 'Bright Star') are seed strains, so there's variability in how they present their blooms, although they tend to be more upright than the drooping types of the straight species. They were selected for tending toward that flower form, in fact. I've seen commercial fields of straight species containing thousands of plants, and they range from pale drooping individuals to stiff, upright, deep rosy purple ones. So the wild ones can look exactly like those named cultivars, and often do.

I think the breeding behind the Meadowbrites involves mostly purpurea, paradoxa (the yellow echinacea), and tennesseensis. They're propagated by tissue culture, which has led to some unforeseen color issues ('Mango').

Soeur

I planted a couple Magnus a few years back and let them go to seed. The resulting offspring was the straight species and the Magnus never came back. The new ones are still thriving. I guess that shows what the hybridizing does to the vigor of the plant.

Actually, 'Magnus' is just a selected, slightly prettier form of the species, not a hybrid. It usually comes pretty true to form -- otherwise they couldn't sell 'Magnus' seed as different from the straight species. But, since it's a seed-based strain and not a clone, no two 'Magnus' plants are genetically identical, and any kind of E. purpurea could potentially show up as a 'Magnus' offspring. This is especially true if there was another strain of E. purpurea somewhere nearby pollinating it. And "nearby" can easily be 1/4 mile away in somebody else's garden.

Soeur

My understanding is that the genetic makeup of echinacea purpurea can vary widely by region and that it cross polinates easily. In order to preserve your local strain, it is recommended you obtain it from a seed source in your area.

I stand corrected. More likely, my resulting offspring from Magnus were a testament to the determination of the bees and butterflies that pollinated them from divergent plants in the neighborhood.

Still, I found it interesting that the traits of Magnus were quickly bred out of it in a single cross with the straight species (or possibly other selections).

won't the "domesticated" forms' genetics mix in with the wild population, thereby changing the species forever? just like most vegetables, maybe the original plant will be mixed in with domestic breeds, the original form unknown to future generations

tried to search for info on "Brights Lights" on the web... its funny some say it grows big as a plant, while another source says it is "dimunitive", another says the flowers droop while others say they are horizontal. i =just want something variable, just don't like the idea of making them overly cultured like roses or boring annuals

i did find a small plant of E. pallada "pale" at the store yesterday. will be interesing to see the contrast