''Liatris'' (), commonly known as gayfeather and blazing star. is a genus of
flowering plant
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants t ...
Asteraceae
The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae ...
native to
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...
(Canada, United States, Mexico and
the Bahamas
The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the a ...
). Some species are used as
ornamental plant
Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that ...
s, sometimes in
flower bouquet
A flower bouquet is a collection of flowers in a creative arrangement. Flower bouquets can be arranged for the decor of homes or public buildings, or may be handheld. Handheld bouquets are classified by several different popular shapes and styl ...
s. They are perennials, surviving the winter in the form of
corm
A corm, bulbo-tuber, or bulbotuber is a short, vertical, swollen underground plant stem that serves as a storage organ that some plants use to survive winter or other adverse conditions such as summer drought and heat (perennation).
The word ' ...
s.
''Liatris'' species are used as food plants by the
larva
A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle.
...
e of some
Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera ( ) is an order of insects that includes butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 families and 46 superfamilies, 10 percent of the total described speci ...
Schinia trifascia
''Schinia trifascia'', the three-lined flower moth, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Jacob Hübner in 1818. It is found in North America from Ontario and Massachusetts south to Florida and west to Arizona, Co ...
''.
Classification
''Liatris'' is in the tribe Eupatorieae of the aster family. Like other members of this tribe, the flower heads have
disc floret
The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae ...
s and no
ray floret
The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae we ...
s. ''Liatris'' is in the subtribe Liatrinae along with ''
Trilisa
''Trilisa'' is a genus of flowering plants in the tribe Eupatorieae within the family Asteraceae.
Some taxonomists group ''Trilisa'' and '' Litrisa'' into the genus ''Carphephorus''.
; Species
* '' Trilisa odoratissima'' (J.F.Gmel.) Cass. - ...
'', ''
Carphephorus
''Carphephorus'' is a genus of North American plants in the family Asteraceae. They are native to the southeastern United States from Louisiana to Virginia. Plants of this genus are known commonly as chaffheads. ''Liatris'' is closely related to ''
Garberia
''Garberia'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, containing the single species ''Garberia heterophylla''.endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...
to
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...
. The two genera can be distinguished by the
shrub
A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from tree ...
form of the latter and by
karyotype
A karyotype is the general appearance of the complete set of metaphase chromosomes in the cells of a species or in an individual organism, mainly including their sizes, numbers, and shapes. Karyotyping is the process by which a karyotype is disce ...
.
Species
Species in the genus include:Flann, C (ed) 2009+ Global Compositae Checklist GRIN Species Records of ''Liatris''. GRIN.Turner, B. L. 1997. The Comps of Mexico: A systematic account of the family Asteraceae, vol. 1 – Eupatorieae. Phytologia Memoirs 11: i–iv, 1–272
* '' Liatris acidota'' – sharp blazing star, Gulf Coast blazing star - TXLA
* '' Liatris aestivalis'' – summer blazing star - TXOK
* '' Liatris aspera'' – tall blazing star - ONT, United States (
Mississippi Valley
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it ...
,
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...
Allegheny Mountains
The Allegheny Mountain Range (; also spelled Alleghany or Allegany), informally the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada and posed a significant barrier to land travel in less devel ...
Liatris cylindracea
''Liatris cylindracea'' (known as barrelhead blazing star, cylindric or cylindrical blazing star, Ontario blazing star, or dwarf blazing star) is a plant species in the family Asteraceae. It is native to eastern North America, where its populatio ...
Bahamas
The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the a ...
Liatris hirsuta
''Liatris hirsuta'', commonly called hairy gayfeather, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to North America, where it is found primarily in the Midwestern
The Midwestern United States, also referred to a ...
MAN
A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromo ...
ALB
The alb (from the Latin ''albus'', meaning ''white''), one of the liturgical vestments of the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, Reformed and Congregational churches, is an ample white garment coming down to the an ...
Liatris oligocephala
''Liatris oligocephala'', the Cahaba torch, is a flowering plant in the genus ''Liatris'' (blazing stars). Its native range is very small, with all known populations being within Bibb County, Alabama, and therefore the species is of conservation ...
MAN
A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromo ...
ALB
The alb (from the Latin ''albus'', meaning ''white''), one of the liturgical vestments of the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, Reformed and Congregational churches, is an ample white garment coming down to the an ...
eastern + central United States
Coahuila
Coahuila (), formally Coahuila de Zaragoza (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila de Zaragoza), is one of the 32 states of Mexico.
Coahuila borders the Mexican states of N ...
,
Nuevo León
Nuevo León () is a state in the northeast region of Mexico. The state was named after the New Kingdom of León, an administrative territory from the Viceroyalty of New Spain, itself was named after the historic Spanish Kingdom of León. Wit ...
,
Tamaulipas
Tamaulipas (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas), is a state in the northeast region of Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal Entiti ...
,
San Luis Potosí
San Luis Potosí (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of San Luis Potosí ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de San Luis Potosí), is one of the 32 states which compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 58 municipalities and i ...
Liatris spicata
''Liatris spicata'', the dense blazing star or prairie feather, is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to eastern North America where it grows in moist prairies and sedge meadows.
The plants have tall ...
'' – dense blazing star, button snakewort, florist gayfeather, marsh blazingstar, prairie-pine - ONTQUE eastern United States
* ''
Liatris squarrosa
''Liatris squarrosa'', commonly called the scaly blazingstar, is an herbaceous perennial plant native to eastern and central North America, with most populations in the Southeastern United States. It is a somewhat conservative
Conserva ...
'' – loosescale gayfeather, colicroot, scaly blazing star - central + southeastern United States
* '' Liatris squarrulosa'' – southern gayfeather, Appalachian blazing star - south-central + southeastern United States
* '' Liatris × steelei'' - ILINKY
* ''
Liatris tenuifolia
''Liatris'' (), commonly known as gayfeather and blazing star. is a genus of flowering plants in the tribe Eupatorieae within the family Asteraceae native to North America (Canada, United States, Mexico and the Bahamas). Some species are us ...