Liatris pycnostachya
cat-tail gayfeather, prairie blazing star, prairie gayfeather, thick-spike blazing star
glabrous or densely piloso-puberulent.
basal and proximal cauline 3–5-nerved, linear to narrowly oblanceolate or oblanceolate, 110–220 × 4–10(–12) mm, gradually then abruptly reduced distally (bractlike proximal to heads), essentially glabrous or sparsely pilose to densely piloso-puberulent, weakly gland-dotted (bases of basal usually fibrous-persistent).
usually 0, rarely (spreading to ascending) 1–2 mm.
campanulate-cylindric, 7–9(–10) × 3.5–5 mm.
(4–)5–8;
corolla tubes glabrous inside.
(reflexed or curving-spreading) in 4–5 series, oblong-lanceolate, unequal, essentially glabrous or ± pilose, margins with hyaline borders, sometimes ciliate, apices usually acute to acute-acuminate (sometimes distally dilated, nearly petaloid).
in dense, spiciform arrays.
3.8–4.5(–5) mm;
pappi: lengths ± equaling corollas, bristles barbellate.
globose, sometimes becoming elongate rhizomes.
Liatris pycnostachya
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Corms globose; stems usually glabrous or sparsely pilose except near heads (where sparsely piloso-puberulent); leaves glabrous | var. pycnostachya |
1. Corms globose to elongate; stems moderately to densely piloso-puberulent; leaves moderately to densely piloso-puberulent to nearly glabrous | var. lasiophylla |
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