Liatris elegantula
Liatris provincialis
Greene's elegant gayfeather, shaggy blazing star
Godfrey's blazing star, Godfrey's gayfeather
glabrous.
hirtellous.
basal and proximal cauline 1-nerved, linear-oblanceolate to narrowly oblanceolate, 80–210 × 2–5(–10) mm, gradually or abruptly reduced distally, essentially glabrous (sparsely piloso-ciliate along proximal margins), gland-dotted.
basal and proximal cauline 1-nerved, linear-oblanceolate to narrowly oblanceolate, 60–150 × 2–6 mm, abruptly reduced, linear, 1–2 mm wide, then gradually or little reduced distally, essentially glabrous or hirtellous (sometimes mostly along abaxial midveins), gland-dotted.
0 or (ascending) 2(–7) mm.
0.
turbinate, 6–8 × 5–7 mm.
cylindric, 9–11 × 3–5 mm.
(7–)8–11(–13);
corolla tubes pilose inside.
3–4;
corolla tubes glabrous inside.
in 3–4(–5) series, mostly oblong, unequal, essentially glabrous, margins with hyaline borders (0.2–0.4 mm wide), sometimes sparsely ciliolate, apices rounded.
in 3–4(–5) series, oblong-obovate to oblong or oblong-lanceolate, strongly unequal, glabrous, sparsely puberulent, or hirtellous, margins with hyaline borders, ciliolate, apices acute to acuminate (mid often cuspidate).
in loose, racemiform arrays (internodes 2–14 mm).
in dense, spiciform arrays (spreading to ascending, not strongly overlapping).
2.8–3.5(–3.8) mm;
pappi: lengths ± equaling corollas, bristles barbellate.
4–5.5 mm;
pappi: lengths ± equaling corollas, bristles barbellate.
mostly globose.
globose to elongate.
= 20.
Liatris elegantula
Liatris provincialis
Of conservation concern.
Liatris provincialis is very similar to L. chapmanii and apparently restricted to coastal and near-coastal sites in panhandle of Florida (Franklin and Wakulla counties). Beside the difference in orientation of the heads, phyllaries of L. provincialis are broader (versus gradually and more narrowly lanceolate), often abruptly acute to short-acuminate or cuspidate, but there is little else to distinguish the two. Liatris provincialis is in the Center for Plant Conservation’s National Collection of Endangered Plants.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
