Liatris tenuis
Liatris compacta
gulf blazing star, Shinners' gayfeather
Arkansas gayfeather, scaly blazing star
strigoso-puberulent.
glabrous.
basal and proximal cauline 1(–3)-nerved, linear-lanceolate to linear-oblanceolate, 120–250 × 2–3(–5) mm, abruptly reduced on distal 1/2–2/3 of stems, sparsely pilose (abaxial faces), gland-dotted.
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.
0 or 1–5 mm.
3–25 mm (each head subtended by broad, foliaceous bracts longer than involucres).
cylindro-campanulate, 10–13 × 5–6(–7) mm.
cylindro-campanulate, 12–17 × 8–14 mm.
10–12;
corolla tubes glabrous inside.
18–25;
corolla tubes glabrous inside (lobes adaxially hispid).
in 3–4(–5) series, outermost narrowly triangular, unequal, sparsely fine-pilose to glabrate, margins without hyaline borders, ciliate, apices (loosely divergent) acute to acuminate (innermost sometimes obtuse and short-acuminate).
(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 loose, spiciform arrays (internodes 1–15 mm).
borne singly or (2–5) in loose, racemiform to spiciform arrays.
4.2–4.5 mm;
pappi: lengths equaling corollas, bristles barbellate or proximally plumose.
5.5–8 mm;
pappi: lengths ± equaling corollas, bristles plumose.
globose to subglobose.
globose to subglobose.
Liatris tenuis
Liatris compacta
Liatris tenuis is in the Center for Plant Conservation’s National Collection of Endangered Plants.
(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.)
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