SummaryEchinacea tennesseensis (Beadle) Small (Compositae: Heliantheae: Ziniinae) is described and illustrated, and is accompanied by statements on its distribution, habitat, phenology, etymology and vernacular names. A statement on its conservation status is made. A brief history of Echinacea is provided, with a commentary of the most useful revision discussed. The subtribal position and related genera of Echinacea is discussed, with the most recent account proposing that Echinacea is placed in the subtribe Zinniinae, alongside Zinnia, Sanvitalia and Heliopsis, amongst others, and quite separate from Rudbeckia and Ratibida, with which it has often been allied, now placed in the subtribe Rudbeckiinae.