Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Asterales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Liatris spicata
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Liatris at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Liatris spicata var. spicata
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
INCLUDED WITHIN Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Liatris spicata var. spicata
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21 (2006)
Liatris spicata var. spicata
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Liatris spicata var. spicata
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-30-001a:
Liatris spicata var. spicata FAMILY Asteraceae__
INCLUDED WITHIN Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Laciniaria spicata
COMMON NAME:
Dense Blazing-star, Mountain Blazing-star, Florist's Gayfeather, Dense Gayfeather
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_lasp5_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm160430_614
April Greenville County SC
Ashmore Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm220412_6783
April Greenville County SC
Bald Rock Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm220412_6785
April Greenville County SC
Bald Rock Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm110522_612
May Greenville County SC
Ashmore Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm120506_589
May Oconee County SC
Leaves narrowly linear, about 16" long at the plant's base, shorter upwards, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006).
)
JK Marlow jkm120623_227b
June Greenville County SC
Ashmore Heritage Preserve
Flower heads in a spiciform arrangement; (4)6-8(12) florets per head, per Weakley's Flora.
)
JK Marlow jkm0507l_22
July Oconee County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm070703_049
July Summers County WV
Sandstone Visitors Center
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_l_spicata
July
)
Steve Marlow snm070703d101_024
July Summers County WV
Sandstone Visitors Center
Unlike many plants, Liatris flowers downward from the top [determinate], per Book of Field and Roadside (Eastman, 2003).
)
JK Marlow jkm0408j_18
August Oconee County SC
Chief pollinators are long-tongued insects, per Book of Field and Roadside (Eastman, 2003).
)
JK Marlow jkm0408k_12
August Oconee County SC
Narrow, leafy, typically unbranched stems may reach heights of 6' or more, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006).
)
JK Marlow jkm220809_9529
August Greenville County SC
Bald Rock Heritage Preserve
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_liatris_spicata_7
September
)
JK Marlow jkm0410p_16
October Oconee County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm221004_0124
October Greenville County SC
Bald Rock Heritage Preserve
Stems glabrous or puberulent (not glandular), per Weakley's Flora (2022).
)
JK Marlow jkm221004_0126
October Greenville County SC
Bald Rock Heritage Preserve
Phyllary apices obtuse to rounded. Involucres (7-)8-11mm, usually greenish, per Weakley's Flora (2022).
)
JK Marlow jkm221004_0132
October Greenville County SC
Bald Rock Heritage Preserve
Leaves 3-5-veined. Basal and lower cauline leaves 4-10(-20)mm wide, per Weakley's Flora (2022).
)
JK Marlow jkm221007_1364
October Greenville County SC
Bald Rock Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm231024_6187
October Oconee County SC
Phyllaries ovate to oblong, unequal, margins with hyaline borders, sometimes ciliolate, per Flora of North America.
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Liatris spicata
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Liatris spicata var. spicata
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
INCLUDED WITHIN
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Liatris spicata var. spicata
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21
Liatris spicata var. spicata
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Liatris spicata var. spicata
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-30-001a:
Liatris spicata var. spicata
FAMILY
Asteraceae__
INCLUDED WITHIN
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Laciniaria spicata
825
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Prairies (calcareous), roadsides, seepages, bogs, grassy balds, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common (uncommon in SC)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple
Alternate & basal
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Disc: Purplish-blue
Rays: Absent
Inferior ovary
Bisexual
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Blackish
Achene
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- All About South Carolina Wildflowers (Midgley, 1999) p187
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006) p076
- Gardening with Native Plants of the South (Wasowski & Wasowski, 1994, 2020) p161
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p143
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p110
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p093
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p386
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p412
- Guide to the Plants of Granite Outcrops (Murdy & Carter, 2000) p83
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p383
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p256
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p098
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p313?
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p364
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p188
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