Liatris punctata var. mexicana
Liatris punctata
Mexican blazing star
dotted blazing star, dotted gayfeather, narrow-leaf blazingstar, plains gayfeather
glabrous.
50–120 × 2–7 mm.
basal and proximal cauline 1-nerved, linear, 50–140 × 1–7 mm, gradually or little reduced distally, essentially glabrous or sparsely piloso-hirsutulous, gland-dotted (margins sometimes ciliate).
0 or very rarely 1–2 mm.
10–15 mm.
campanulate-cylindric, 7–15 × (4–)5–7 mm.
4–6.
3–8;
corolla tubes glabrous inside.
in 3–5 series.
in 3–6 series, mostly oblong-obovate, unequal, essentially glabrous, margins without hyaline borders, sometimes ciliate, apices acute, acute-acuminate, obtuse, rounded, or rounded-truncate (often with indurate apicula or mucros, lateral veins usually not evident beyond middle or at least on distal 1/3).
in loose, spiciform arrays (widely spaced, stems evident).
in dense to loose, spiciform arrays.
(5.5–)6–8.5 mm;
pappi: lengths ± equaling corollas, bristles plumose.
elongate or becoming rhizomes.
globose to depressed-globose or elongate, sometimes becoming simple or branched rhizomes.
= 20, 40.
Liatris punctata var. mexicana
Liatris punctata
In the southern third of Texas, and in adjacent Louisiana, New Mexico, and Mexico, heads of Liatris punctata tend to be more widely spaced than characteristic for the species over the rest of its range. The most distinctive plants are in trans-Pecos Texas (and Mexico), and they occur at higher elevations than those in the more eastern range. Corms usually are elongate or rhizomiform; Gaiser described L. mucronata var. interrupta from a variant with subglobose corms. Intergrades in head congestion also are encountered, even northward into the Texas panhandle, and the variety is not sharply delimited. The populations with widely separated heads probably were ancestral to L. bracteata and L. cymosa, as well as a race (yet unnamed) with piloso-hirsutulous leaves, which occurs on the Edwards Plateau.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Varieties 3 (3 in the flora).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Corms globose to depressed-globose; involucres 7–9(–12) mm; phyllaries in (4–)5–6 series; florets (3–)4–5(–6) | var. mucronata |
1. Corms elongate or becoming rhizomes; involucres 10–14 mm; phyllaries in 4(–5) series; florets 4–8 | → 2 |
2. Heads in dense, spiciform arrays (closely spaced, stems usually obscured by heads) | var. punctata |
2. Heads in loose, spiciform arrays (widely spaced, stems evident) | var. mexicana |
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