Flora of North America species comparison

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Liatris ligulistylis

northern plains gayfeather, Rocky Mountain blazing star, Rocky Mountain gayfeather, strap-style gayfeather
Habit Plants 20–100 cm.
Stems

sparsely to densely puberulent, puberulent-villous, or strigoso-puberulent.
Leaves

basal and proximal cauline 1-nerved, narrowly oblanceolate to spatulate-lanceolate, 90–150(–220) × 4–17(–24) mm, gradually reduced distally to near midstem, then abruptly reduced, linear or narrowly lanceolate, ascending to nearly erect, bractlike, sparsely to densely puberulent, ± gland-dotted.
Peduncles

usually (5–)8–15(–30) mm.
Involucres

campanulate to turbinate-campanulate, 10–15 × 13–18 mm.
Florets

30–70;

corolla tubes glabrous inside.
Phyllaries

in (3–)4–5 series, oblong-obovate to oblong-spatulate, strongly unequal, essentially glabrous, margins with (purple) hyaline borders, erose to lacerate or irregular, apices broadly rounded to truncate.
Heads

(4–21) in open, racemiform arrays (terminal heads sometimes maturing first and larger).
Cypselae

5–7 mm;

pappi: lengths ± equaling corollas, bristles barbellate.
Corms

subglobose (often knotty, densely fibrous-rooted).
2n

= 20.

Liatris ligulistylis
Phenology Flowering Jul–Oct.
Habitat Prairies (often wet), pine barrens, clearings in aspen and pine woods, ridges along lake shores, depressions in granite, rocky slopes, roadsides, ditches, along railroads, sand, clay
Elevation 100–2400 m (300–7900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CO; IA; MN; MT; ND; NM; SD; WI; WY; AB; MB; SK
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Source FNA vol. 21, p. 531.
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. hirsuta, L. laevigata, L. lancifolia, 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 Lacinaria ligulistylis
Name authority (A. Nelson) K. Schumann: Just’s Bot. Jahresber. 29(1): 569. (1903)
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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