Liatris spicata |
Liatris helleri |
|||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
dense blazing star, florist gayfeather, marsh gayfeather, prairie gay feather, sessile-head blazing star |
Heller's blazing star, Heller's gayfeather |
|||||
Habit | Plants (20–)40–110(–180) cm. | Plants 15–55 cm. | ||||
Stems | glabrous. |
glabrous. |
||||
Leaves | 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). |
basal and proximal cauline 1-nerved, spatulate-oblanceolate to narrowly lanceolate or oblanceolate-linear, (50–)60–100(–220) × 3–8(–15) mm (usually reaching at least level of heads), quickly to gradually reduced distal to midstems, essentially glabrous or sparsely pilose (abaxially), weakly, if at all, gland-dotted. |
||||
Peduncles | usually 0, rarely 1–2 mm. |
0. |
||||
Involucres | turbinate-cylindric to turbinate-campanulate, 7–11 × 4–6 mm. |
turbinate-campanulate, 7–10 × 6–8(–10) mm. |
||||
Florets | (4–)5–8(–14); corolla tubes glabrous inside. |
7–13(–17); corolla tubes sparsely pilose inside. |
||||
Phyllaries | in (3–)4–5 series, ovate to oblong, unequal, essentially glabrous, margins with hyaline borders, sometimes ciliolate, apices rounded to obtuse. |
in 3–4(–5) series, oblong, unequal, glabrous, margins with hyaline borders (0.2–0.4 mm wide), ciliolate, apices rounded. |
||||
Heads | in dense to loose, spiciform arrays. |
in dense to loose, spiciform arrays. |
||||
Cypselae | (3.5–)4.5–6 mm; pappi: lengths ± equaling corollas, bristles barbellate. |
(2.5–)3.5–5 mm; pappi: lengths 1/3–2/3 or equaling corollas, bristles barbellate. |
||||
Corms | globose to slightly elongate. |
globose (sometimes knotty). |
||||
2n | = 20. |
|||||
Liatris spicata |
Liatris helleri |
|||||
Phenology | Flowering Jul–mid Sep. | |||||
Habitat | Rock outcrops, cliff ledges, ridges, shale, rocky openings in heath balds, roadside banks, oak, dry pine-oak, and pitch pine woods | |||||
Elevation | 600–1600(–1900) m (2000–5200(–6200) ft) | |||||
Distribution |
AL; AR; CT; DE; FL; GA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MA; MD; MI; MO; MS; NC; NJ; NY; OH; PA; SC; TN; VA; WI; WV; ON; QC
|
NC; VA; WV |
||||
Discussion | 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.) |
Liatris helleri has been regarded as a narrow endemic (of conservation concern) of high-elevation habitats in North Carolina, where it was recognized especially by a markedly shortened pappus; it has been reported (as L. turgida) from Alabama and Georgia (not confirmed in this study). With recognition that pappus length varies and leaves may be sparsely villous to nearly glabrous, the concept of L. helleri has been expanded (G. L. Nesom 2005b) to include plants identified in montane West Virginia and Virginia as L. turgida and L. graminifolia (e.g., M. J. Johnson 1971). Even in Virginia, the pappus sometimes is reduced to half the length of the corolla tube (e.g., Bedford Co., Freer 12226, NCU; Amherst Co., Freer 2007, NCU; Roanoke Co., Uttal 10883, NCU), and pappus length is variable in the North Carolina region of typical L. helleri, where the bristles characteristically are short (Avery, Burke, Caldwell, Mitchell, and Watauga counties). In exposed habitats (e.g., rock ledges, shale barrens), plants often are relatively short and the heads are relatively few and distantly spaced; in less exposed sites, plants may be taller and to 40 heads may be borne in a relatively dense array. Liatris helleri is in the Center for Plant Conservation’s National Collection of Endangered Plants. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
||||
Key |
|
|||||
Source | FNA vol. 21, p. 523. | FNA vol. 21, p. 529. | ||||
Parent taxa | Asteraceae > tribe Eupatorieae > Liatris | Asteraceae > tribe Eupatorieae > Liatris | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | Serratula spicata, Lacinaria spicata | Lacinaria helleri, L. turgida | ||||
Name authority | (Linnaeus) Willdenow: Sp. Pl. 3: 1636. (1803) | Porter: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 18: 147. (1891) | ||||
Web links |