Echinacea paradoxa var. paradoxa is the most unusual "purple coneflower" given the paradox that its ray flowers are yellow. It grows to four feet in height, and like Echinacea atrorubens, has light green stems and leaves. The plant is smooth or only slightly hairy. The disk is usually dark brown. The ray flowers are yellow, rarely white or peach, (and I have seen one specimen with orange ray flowers, perhaps a hybrid with Echinacea simulata). Echinacea paradoxa flowers appear in mid to late May or early June, and last into July. It grows on glades, bald knobs, in open woods, and rocky prairies. It is endemic to the south central and western Arkansas Ozarks, and central, southern, and western Missouri counties

Echinacea parad.42236