Rough Blazing Star

(Liatris aspera)

 

Color Photograph: Copyright Nearctica.com, Inc.

 

Rough Blazing Star (Liatris aspera)

Identification: Florets lavender, on short stalks or nearly sessile to the stem. Flower head with 25 to 40 florets per head. Flower bracts rounded, margins membranous and curled outward. Stem smooth. Leaves elongate, narrow, grasslike. Plant 0.5 to 2.5 feet in height.

Distribution: Southeastern Canada, the Plains States and most of the eastern United States except northern New England.

Habitat: Rough Blazing Star is found on sandy soils, most commonly in prairies.

Flowering period: August to September.

Similar Species: The rounded flower bracts with the margins curled outward will usually identify this species. A related species (see the photograph below), Liatris ligulistylis, has similar flower bracts, but the flowers are on long stalks.

Liatris ligulistylis

Kantrud, Harold A. 1995. Native Wildflowers of the North Dakota Grasslands. Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, USGS.

Rough Blazing Star (Liatris aspera)

See Comments above on right

Similar Species

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