Liatris pycnostachya
Liatris compacta
cat-tail gayfeather, prairie blazing star, prairie gayfeather, thick-spike blazing star
Arkansas gayfeather, scaly blazing star
glabrous or densely piloso-puberulent.
glabrous.
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).
basal and proximal cauline 3–5-nerved (parallel veins evident, not persistent), elliptic-lanceolate, 80–150(–180) × 3–10(–12) mm (largest toward midstem), gradually or slightly reduced distally, glabrous, weakly gland-dotted.
usually 0, rarely (spreading to ascending) 1–2 mm.
3–25 mm (each head subtended by broad, foliaceous bracts longer than involucres).
campanulate-cylindric, 7–9(–10) × 3.5–5 mm.
cylindro-campanulate, 12–17 × 8–14 mm.
(4–)5–8;
corolla tubes glabrous inside.
18–25;
corolla tubes glabrous inside (lobes adaxially hispid).
(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).
(loose to spreading) in 5–7 series, narrowly lanceolate (outer, usually longer than inner, foliaceous) to broadly oblong or narrowly oblong-lanceolate, usually glabrous, sometimes sparsely puberulent, margins without hyaline borders, apices acuminate to acute or cuspidate.
in dense, spiciform arrays.
borne singly or (2–5) in loose, racemiform to spiciform arrays.
3.8–4.5(–5) mm;
pappi: lengths ± equaling corollas, bristles barbellate.
5.5–8 mm;
pappi: lengths ± equaling corollas, bristles plumose.
globose, sometimes becoming elongate rhizomes.
globose to subglobose.
Liatris pycnostachya
Liatris compacta
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Liatris compacta is known from west-central Arkansas. It has been treated as a variety of L. squarrosa, to which it appears closely related (especially var. glabrata). In addition to morphologic differences, L. compacta is distinct in habitat and is geographically disjunct from its closest relatives (L. squarrosa vars. glabrata and squarrosa); it is sympatric with L. hirsuta, which apparently is separated by habitat. The bracts subtending the heads are foliaceous; the outermost phyllaries of L. squarrosa are relatively elongate and usually phyllary-like, not nearly so large as in L. compacta.
Liatris compacta, L. squarrosa, L. hirsuta, and L. cylindracea are closely similar and interrelated: the basal leaves are on relatively widely spaced nodes, usually wither before flowering, and lengthen distally into the more crowded (shorter internodes) cauline leaves. At least the basal and proximal cauline leaves are basally sheathing and strongly parallel-veined. All species of this group also have at least a tendency for cylindric involucres, and corolla lobes of all are densely hirsute on the adaxial faces. Intermediates and intergrades among L. squarrosa, L. hirsuta, and L. cylindracea are relatively common in areas of sympatry; identifications are correspondingly arbitrary.
(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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