Flora of North America species comparison

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Liatris tenuifolia

pine-needle gayfeather, shortleaf blazing star, shortleaf gayfeather
Habit Plants 40–150 cm.
Stems

glabrous or sparsely pilose.
Leaves

basal and proximal cauline (arising from separated nodes) 1-nerved, linear to linear-lanceolate, 100–300 × 1–2(–2.5) mm, gradually or abruptly reduced distally, essentially glabrous, gland-dotted (proximal margins sometimes ciliate).
Peduncles

(ascending) 1–7 mm.
Involucres

turbinate-campanulate, 5–7 × 4–5 mm.
Florets

4–6;

corolla tubes glabrous inside.
Phyllaries

in 2–3(–4) series, lanceolate to oblong or elliptic-oblong, unequal, essentially glabrous, margins with (pinkish purple) hyaline borders, apices usually rounded-retuse and minutely involute-cuspidate to apiculate.
Heads

in compact, racemiform arrays.
Cypselae

2.5–4 mm;

pappi: lengths ± equaling corollas, bristles barbellate.
Corms

globose.

Liatris tenuifolia
Phenology Flowering Aug–Nov.
Habitat Longleaf pine savannas, longleaf pine-scrub oak, turkey oak-bluejack oak, slash pine-sand pine-scrub, sand pine-scrub, sand ridges, hills, and flats, roadsides
Elevation 10–100 m (0–300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; FL; GA; SC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Source FNA vol. 21, p. 526.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Eupatorieae > Liatris
Sibling taxa
L. acidota, L. aestivalis, L. aspera, L. bracteata, L. chapmanii, L. cokeri, L. compacta, L. cylindracea, L. cymosa, L. elegans, L. elegantula, L. garberi, L. gholsonii, L. glandulosa, L. gracilis, L. helleri, L. hirsuta, L. laevigata, L. lancifolia, L. ligulistylis, L. microcephala, L. ohlingerae, L. oligocephala, L. patens, L. pauciflora, L. pilosa, L. provincialis, L. punctata, L. pycnostachya, L. savannensis, L. scariosa, L. spicata, L. squarrosa, L. squarrulosa, L. tenuis, L. virgata
Synonyms Lacinaria tenuifolia
Name authority Nuttall: Gen. N. Amer. Pl. 2: 131. (1818)
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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(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Fabaceae, Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

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