Liatris spicata
dense blazing star, florist gayfeather, marsh gayfeather, prairie gay feather, sessile-head blazing star
glabrous.
basal and lower cauline 3–5-nerved, narrowly oblong-lanceolate to narrowly spatulate-oblanceolate, 120–350 × (2–)4–10(–20) mm (sometimes becoming more densely arranged distally), usually gradually reduced distally, essentially glabrous or sparsely villous, weakly gland-dotted (glandular hairs often not evident, bases of basal often fibrous-persistent).
usually 0, rarely 1–2 mm.
turbinate-cylindric to turbinate-campanulate, 7–11 × 4–6 mm.
(4–)5–8(–14);
corolla tubes glabrous inside.
in (3–)4–5 series, ovate to oblong, unequal, essentially glabrous, margins with hyaline borders, sometimes ciliolate, apices rounded to obtuse.
in dense to loose, spiciform arrays.
(3.5–)4.5–6 mm;
pappi: lengths ± equaling corollas, bristles barbellate.
globose to slightly elongate.
Liatris spicata
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).
Liatris spicata is sold as cut flowers. It also is commonly sold as a garden plant in various genetic permutations (probably derived from var. spicata, perhaps from L. lancifolia) and it apparently escapes cultivation. Reports from Arkansas, Connecticut, and Quebec probably reflect plants growing in or escaped from gardens.
A geographic disjunction within Liatris spicata occurs between the coastal plain element (var. resinosa) and the inland/montane element (var. spicata), although plants morphologically referable to var. resinosa occasionally are encountered in montane North Carolina and Tennessee and var. spicata-like plants occur in the range of var. resinosa. Apparent intergrades between the two taxa are common, especially in Tennessee and Alabama. The geographical gap is widest in Georgia and Alabama. Neither variety occurs naturally west of the Mississippi River, except for a historical record of var. spicata in Oregon County, Missouri (Kellogg s.n., MO), where the population has now been genetically “swamped” by L. pycnostachya (G. A. Yatskievych, pers. comm.).
In both var. spicata and var. resinosa, marked variation (dimorphism) in head size occurs, the large-headed plants apparently occurring in scattered geographic enclaves without a broader geographic pattern. It seems possible that independent populational origins of polyploidy might underlie the variation.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Leaves: basal and proximal cauline (2–)4–8 mm wide (cauline usually abruptly reduced in size near midstem, continuing distally as linear, bractlike leaves); involucres 7–9 mm; phyllaries purplish to greenish; florets 5–6(–8); coastal plain | var. resinosa |
1. Leaves: basal and proximal cauline 4–10(–20) mm wide (cauline usually gradually reduced in size distally); involucres (7–)8–11 mm; phyllaries usually greenish; florets (4–)6–8(–12); montaneand inland | var. spicata |
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