The new cultivar was discovered as a chance, whole plant mutation in a commercial nursery in Rijpwetering, the Netherlands. The inventor, Cornelis Petrus van der Meer, a citizen the Netherlands, discovered the new variety as a naturally occurring whole plant mutation among several plants of the unpatented commercial variety, Echinacea purpurea ‘Magnus’. The new variety was discovered in Spring of 2006 by the inventor.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar ‘CATHARINA’ by vegetative divisions was performed at a commercial nursery in Rijpwetering, the Netherlands in the Summer of 2006. Subsequently, reproduction has also been successful by tissue culture. Vegetative reproduction by tissue culture has produced several generations, and has shown that the unique features of this cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type through successive generations.