Friends of the Arboretum Lecture
"The Importance of Echinacea Conservation in North Carolina"
Kathleen Ann McKeown
- Thursday, July 20, 2000 – 7:30 pm–9:00 pm
Echinacea is a North American perennial plant genus known for several of its medicinal species. Extracts of these species are used in herbal products for immune system enhancement. Although agricultural production of echinacea has increased with the demand for herbal products, wild harvesting continues unabated from natural areas of the U.S. Very little is known about the potentially negative effects this practice is having on native populations. Two Echinacea species, E. laevigata and E. purpurea are native to North Carolina.
A factual review of this genus will be presented, including numerous slides from wild populations around the country, and the "ecotypes" of North Carolina. A thorough discussion of the problems associated with wild harvesting of this and other medicinal plants will be conducted.
Kathy McKeown is a doctoral student in Botany and a GAANN fellow for the 2000-2001 academic year at North Carolina State University, Raleigh. She is one of a handful of American scientists who have studied the genus Echinacea throughout its native range, and was the first scientist to collect a comprehensive sample of its genetic diversity for conservation by the National Plant Germplasm System. She is an expert on Echinacea taxonomy.
- Cost
- Free for Friends of the JC Raulston Arboretum members, NC State University students (with ID), and Department of Horticultural Science faculty and staff, all others $5.00.
- Registration
- Advance registration is not available.
- Location
- Room 159, Kilgore Hall, NC State University.
- Directions
- Kilgore Hall is located on the southeast corner of Brooks Avenue and Hillsborough Street in Raleigh.
- Parking
- Free parking is available in the Brooks Avenue lot located on the northeast corner of Brooks Avenue and Hillsborough Street.
- Questions
- Please call (919) 515-3132 for more information about this lecture.