Liatris elegans |
Liatris cymosa |
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elegant gayfeather, pinkscale blazing star, pinkscale gayfeather |
Aggie-land gayfeather, branch blazing star, branch gayfeather |
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Habit | Plants 30–120 cm. | Plants 20–75 cm. | ||||||||||||
Stems | puberulent to hirsute-puberulent. |
strigoso-puberulent. |
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Leaves | (basal on relatively distant internodes usually withering before flowering) proximal cauline 1-nerved, narrowly oblanceolate, 60–200(–300) × 3–8 mm, gradually or abruptly reduced distally (becoming slightly to strongly deflexed), essentially glabrous or sparsely puberulent, gland-dotted. |
basal and proximal cauline 1-nerved, linear to narrowly oblanceolate, 80–120 × 2–5 mm, gradually reduced distally or abruptly reduced on distal 1/2 of stems, essentially glabrous (margins proximally piloso-ciliate). |
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Peduncles | usually 0, sometimes 1–5(–10) mm. |
20–70 mm (bracteate). |
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Involucres | turbinate-cylindric, 12–20 × 4–6 mm. |
cylindro-campanulate, 14–17 × 8–11 mm. |
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Florets | 4–5; corolla tubes glabrous inside. |
20–25; corolla tubes glabrous inside. |
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Phyllaries | in 3–4 series, narrowly lanceolate-triangular, unequal, strigose to strigoso-hispid, margins with hyaline borders, apices (at least inner) prolonged, spreading, ± dilated, petaloid (pink, purplish, white, or yellow). |
in 5–7 series, broadly oblong-obovate (outer) to broadly oblong, strongly unequal, sparsely short-pilose, margins without hyaline borders, ciliolate, apices rounded, sometimes mucronate. |
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Heads | in dense, spiciform arrays. |
(2–20+) in open, cymiform arrays. |
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Cypselae | 3.5–5(–6) mm; pappi: lengths ± equaling corollas, bristles plumose. |
6–7 mm; pappi: lengths ± equaling corollas, bristles plumose. |
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Corms | depressed-globose or globose to napiform. |
globose to elongate-globose. |
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Liatris elegans |
Liatris cymosa |
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Phenology | Flowering (Jul–)Aug–Oct. | |||||||||||||
Habitat | Post oak woodlands, fields, fencerows, openings, edges, clay soils | |||||||||||||
Elevation | 50–100 m (200–300 ft) | |||||||||||||
Distribution |
AL; AR; FL; GA; LA; MS; OK; SC; TX
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TX |
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Discussion | Varieties 4 (4 in the flora). Variety elegans extends across the geographic range of the species; the other three varieties form local enclaves essentially imbedded within var. elegans and sporadically intergrading with it at points of contact (see further comments under 10d. var. kralii). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Of conservation concern. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 21, p. 521. | FNA vol. 21, p. 520. | ||||||||||||
Parent taxa | Asteraceae > tribe Eupatorieae > Liatris | Asteraceae > tribe Eupatorieae > Liatris | ||||||||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||||||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||||||
Synonyms | Staehelina elegans | Lacinaria cymosa | ||||||||||||
Name authority | (Walter) Michaux: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 91. (1803) | (Ness) K. Schumann: Just’s Bot. Jahresber. 27(1): 528. (1901) | ||||||||||||
Web links |