Flora of North America species comparison

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Liatris punctata var. mucronata

Liatris punctata var. mexicana
Photo is of parent taxon

cusp blazing star
Photo is of parent taxon

Mexican blazing star
Leaves

70–150 × 1–3 mm.

50–120 × 2–7 mm.
Involucres

7–9(–12) mm.

10–15 mm.
Florets

(3–)4–5(–6).

4–6.
Phyllaries

in (4–)5–6 series.

in 3–5 series.
Heads

in dense, spiciform arrays (closely spaced, stems usually obscured by heads).

in loose, spiciform arrays (widely spaced, stems evident).
Corms

globose to depressed-globose.

elongate or becoming rhizomes.
2n

= 20, 40.

Liatris punctata var. mucronata

Liatris punctata var. mexicana
Phenology Flowering mid Aug–Oct. Flowering Aug–Oct(–Nov).
Habitat Prairies, mesquite-grasslands, roadsides, fencerows, sands, clay, sandy loams, often rocky Gravelly and rocky slopes, canyon bottoms, grassy areas, mesquite, commonly over limestone
Elevation 50–300 m (200–1000 ft) 10–1800 m (0–5900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AR; KS; MO; OK; TX
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
LA; NM; TX; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas)
Discussion

Varieties mucronata and punctata intergrade where their ranges meet in central Texas (G. L. Nesom and R. J. O’Kennon 2001). Plants currently identified as Liatris punctata or L. mucronata in northern Arkansas, southern Missouri, and adjacent Kansas appear to represent an undescribed race, perhaps most closely related to L. aestivalis.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

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.)
Source FNA vol. 21, p. 520. FNA vol. 21, p. 519.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Eupatorieae > Liatris > Liatris punctata Asteraceae > tribe Eupatorieae > Liatris > Liatris punctata
Sibling taxa
L. punctata var. mexicana, L. punctata var. punctata
L. punctata var. mucronata, L. punctata var. punctata
Synonyms L. mucronata, Lacinaria leptostachya, Lacinaria ruthii, L. angustifolia L. mucronata var. interrupta
Name authority (de Candolle) B. L. Turner: in B. L. Turner et al., Atlas Vasc. Pl. Texas, 6. (2003) Gaiser: Rhodora 48: 354. (1946)
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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