The seed on mine are light brown and 1\8 to 3\16 inches long. One end of the seed is square and the other tapers to a point. They have to be really dry before you try to get the seed out.

Here's a picture Nancy. The seeds are not the first things to drop when you start fiddling with the head. I found I literally had to pick them out with a tweezers. They're pretty deeply imbedded. It can be a painful seed to collect.

Ann

Here is a link that might be useful: coneflower

If you go to the FAQ pages, you'll find a description of the seed as well as a way to get them out.

Oh my gosh!!! I've been throwing out the seed and keeping the chaff!!!! Thank you so much for setting me straight. I can't imagine why some poor soul hasn't set me straight after all my trades of them. I am such a boob!!! Thanks again.

Nancy

You are not a boob! We have all done something like that. It is called the process of learning.

I have to put my echinacea seed in a baggie with some damp vermiculite and chill for about 6 weeks. If I chill them, they germinate just fine. If I skip that step, they don't. I don't know why.

Janie

Yeah, I've had people send me the spines. The seed looks like space shuttles...

Echinacea seeds do not require any chilling. Just keep them moist not soggy, @ 68 to 70F. Germination in begins in 3 weeks. I have always had 100% success.

Janie,
It might be that the "chilling" process is the fact that the damp vermiculite is working on the seed and not the cold.

Happy Gardening,

Josie