Flora of North America species comparison

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Liatris hirsuta

hairy gayfeather, scaly blazing star
Habit Plants 20–70 cm.
Stems

hirsute to piloso-hirsute.
Leaves

basal and proximal cauline 3–5-nerved, linear-lanceolate, 60–180 × 2–7 mm (largest usually distal to proximalmost), gradually reduced distally, hirsute to piloso-hirsute.
Peduncles

0 or (peduncles spreading to ascending) 1–10 mm.
Involucres

cylindro-campanulate, 11–17 × 6–9 mm.
Florets

15–30;

corolla tubes glabrous inside (lobes adaxially hispid).
Phyllaries

(spreading to reflexed) in 5–7 series, ovate-triangular (outer) to oblong-triangular, unequal, usually sparsely hirsute, margins without hyaline borders, coarsely hirsute-ciliate, apices acute-acuminate.
Heads

in loose, racemiform to spiciform arrays.
Cypselae

5.5–6.5 mm;

pappi: lengths ± equaling corollas, bristles plumose.
Corms

globose to slightly elongate.

Liatris hirsuta
Phenology Flowering (Jun–)Jul–Aug(–Sep).
Habitat Prairies, rocky slopes, flats, marl ridges, pine-oak woods, streamsides, roadsides
Elevation 50–500(–900) m (200–1600(–3000) ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AR; IA; KS; LA; MO; MS; NE; OK; TX
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Liatris hirsuta occupies a geographic range separate from and nearly contiguous with L. squarrosa. They have been treated as a single species. Liatris hirsuta is sympatric (without intergrades) with L. squarrosa var. squarrosa in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Mississippi; it is sympatric with L. compacta in Arkansas; it intergrades with L. cylindracea in Missouri. See also discussion under 1. L. compacta.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 21, p. 518.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Eupatorieae > Liatris
Sibling taxa
L. acidota, L. aestivalis, L. aspera, L. bracteata, L. chapmanii, L. cokeri, L. compacta, L. cylindracea, L. cymosa, L. elegans, L. elegantula, L. garberi, L. gholsonii, L. glandulosa, L. gracilis, L. helleri, L. laevigata, L. lancifolia, L. ligulistylis, L. microcephala, L. ohlingerae, L. oligocephala, L. patens, L. pauciflora, L. pilosa, L. provincialis, L. punctata, L. pycnostachya, L. savannensis, L. scariosa, L. spicata, L. squarrosa, L. squarrulosa, L. tenuifolia, L. tenuis, L. virgata
Synonyms L. squarrosa var. hirsuta
Name authority Rydberg: Brittonia 1: 98. (1931)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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