Liatris spicata (L.) Willd.

Dense Blazing Star; Dense Gayfeather; Florist's Gayfeather

Herb

Perennial

Vascular

Dense Blazing Star is a native herbaceous perennial in the Sunflower family (Asteraceae). It can be found throughout Alabama. Dense Blazing Star occurs in a wide variety of habitats. Most are wet or at least seasonally wet. Dense Blazing Star occurs in bogs, in pine savannahs, on granite outcrops, in prairies and cedar glades, in seeps, in wet roadside ditches, and along lake and pond margins. It is a perennial from a corm. Stems are glabrous, leafy, and up to 6 feet in height. Leaves form a basal rosette and are alternate on the stem. The leaves are lanceolate to linear in outline, with 2-5 veins. The basal leaves are larger than the cauline leaves. The leaves are glabrous or pubescent and weakly gland dotted. Flowers are produced in heads. The heads are arranged in dense terminal spikes. The heads are sessile or with very short peduncles, cylindrical in shape, with rounded phyllaries. Each head has 5-8 tubular disc flowers. The flowers are purple or rarely white. The fruit is an achene with a crown of barbellate bristles. Two varieties of Dense Blazing Star occur in Alabama: Liatris spicata var. spicata, and Liatris spicata var. resinosa (Nuttall) Gaiser. Variety spicata has greenish phyllaries and usually occurs north of the Coastal Plain. Variety resinosa has purple phyllaries and usually occurs on the Coastal Plain. Dense Blazing Star is commonly available from nurseries, often as dormant corms sold as “bulbs”. It prefers a moist soil and full sun. Plants may have to be staked to prevent them from falling over. Dense Blazing Star attracts many butterfly species and is an excellent cut flower.--A. Diamond

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Native FACU (NWPL)

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