Liatris helleri
Liatris tenuis
Heller's blazing star, Heller's gayfeather
gulf blazing star, Shinners' gayfeather
glabrous.
strigoso-puberulent.
basal and proximal cauline 1-nerved, spatulate-oblanceolate to narrowly lanceolate or oblanceolate-linear, (50–)60–100(–220) × 3–8(–15) mm (usually reaching at least level of heads), quickly to gradually reduced distal to midstems, essentially glabrous or sparsely pilose (abaxially), weakly, if at all, gland-dotted.
basal and proximal cauline 1(–3)-nerved, linear-lanceolate to linear-oblanceolate, 120–250 × 2–3(–5) mm, abruptly reduced on distal 1/2–2/3 of stems, sparsely pilose (abaxial faces), gland-dotted.
0.
0 or 1–5 mm.
turbinate-campanulate, 7–10 × 6–8(–10) mm.
cylindro-campanulate, 10–13 × 5–6(–7) mm.
7–13(–17);
corolla tubes sparsely pilose inside.
10–12;
corolla tubes glabrous inside.
in 3–4(–5) series, oblong, unequal, glabrous, margins with hyaline borders (0.2–0.4 mm wide), ciliolate, apices rounded.
in 3–4(–5) series, outermost narrowly triangular, unequal, sparsely fine-pilose to glabrate, margins without hyaline borders, ciliate, apices (loosely divergent) acute to acuminate (innermost sometimes obtuse and short-acuminate).
in dense to loose, spiciform arrays.
in loose, spiciform arrays (internodes 1–15 mm).
(2.5–)3.5–5 mm;
pappi: lengths 1/3–2/3 or equaling corollas, bristles barbellate.
4.2–4.5 mm;
pappi: lengths equaling corollas, bristles barbellate or proximally plumose.
globose (sometimes knotty).
globose to subglobose.
= 20.
Liatris helleri
Liatris tenuis
Liatris helleri has been regarded as a narrow endemic (of conservation concern) of high-elevation habitats in North Carolina, where it was recognized especially by a markedly shortened pappus; it has been reported (as L. turgida) from Alabama and Georgia (not confirmed in this study). With recognition that pappus length varies and leaves may be sparsely villous to nearly glabrous, the concept of L. helleri has been expanded (G. L. Nesom 2005b) to include plants identified in montane West Virginia and Virginia as L. turgida and L. graminifolia (e.g., M. J. Johnson 1971). Even in Virginia, the pappus sometimes is reduced to half the length of the corolla tube (e.g., Bedford Co., Freer 12226, NCU; Amherst Co., Freer 2007, NCU; Roanoke Co., Uttal 10883, NCU), and pappus length is variable in the North Carolina region of typical L. helleri, where the bristles characteristically are short (Avery, Burke, Caldwell, Mitchell, and Watauga counties). In exposed habitats (e.g., rock ledges, shale barrens), plants often are relatively short and the heads are relatively few and distantly spaced; in less exposed sites, plants may be taller and to 40 heads may be borne in a relatively dense array.
Liatris helleri is in the Center for Plant Conservation’s National Collection of Endangered Plants.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Liatris tenuis is in the Center for Plant Conservation’s National Collection of Endangered Plants.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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