Rank Species | Genus Liatris Higher classification Gayfeather | |
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Similar Gayfeather, Daisy family, Liatris aspera, Liatris pycnostachya, Rocky Mountain gayfeather | ||
Liatris cylindracea, also known as barrelhead blazing star, cylindrical blazing star, or Ontario blazing star, is a plant species in the aster family. It is native to eastern North America, where its populations are concentrated in the Midwestern United States. It is found in habitats such as prairies, limestone and sandstone outcropings, bluffs, barrens, glades, woodlands and dunes.
Description
It grows from rounded or sometimes elongated corms, which produce hairless stems 20–60 centimeters tall. The flowers are in dense heads with 10–35 florets, and the heads lack stems or have stems that are 2–10 millimeters long that orient the heads upward. The heads maybe produced singly or in loose to dense cluster of 2–28. They are arranged in dense spike-like or raceme-like collections. The basal and cauline leaves have three nerves (some might have five), they are long and thin, ranging from 8–25 centimeters long and 2–6 millimeters wide. The foliage is mostly hairless or may have some hairs on the margins (some plants in Kentucky and Missouri are hairy and may indicate hybridization with Liatris hirsuta); the leaves are gradually reduced in size as they ascend near the top of the stem. The seed are produced in cypselae fruits that are 5–7 millimeters long with feathery pappi.
It blooms in mid to late summer with purple flower heads.
