''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 th ...

s in the tribe

Eupatorieae Eupatorieae is a tribe of over 2000D.J.N.Hind & H.E.Robinson. 2007. Tribe Eupatorieae In: ''The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants'' vol.VIII. (Joachim W.Kadereit & Charles Jeffrey, volume editors. Klaus Kubitzky, general editor). Springer-Ve ...

within the family

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 w ...

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 the Car ...

(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 Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

). 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 i ...

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 style ...

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. The ...

e of some

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic r ...

species including the flower moths ''

Schinia gloriosa The bleeding flower moth (''Schinia sanguinea'') is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found from North Carolina to Florida, west to Texas, north to Montana. There is also a disjunct population in Ontario. '' Schinia carmosina'' was elevate ...

'' and ''

Schinia sanguinea The bleeding flower moth (''Schinia sanguinea'') is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found from North Carolina to Florida, west to Texas, north to Montana. There is also a disjunct population in Ontario. '' Schinia carmosina'' was elevate ...

'', both of which feed exclusively on the genus, and '' Schinia tertia'' and ''

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, C ...

''.

Classification

''Liatris'' is in the tribe

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 w ...

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. - Loui ...

'', '' Carphephorus'', and other genera. ''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 elsew ...

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 to ...

. 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 trees ...

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 - TX LA * '' Liatris aestivalis'' – summer blazing star - TX OK * ''

Liatris aspera ''Liatris aspera'' (known as rough blazing star, button blazing star, lacerate blazing star, tall prairie blazing star, or tall gayfeather) is a perennial wildflower in the Asteraceae family that is found in central to eastern North America in ha ...

'' – tall blazing star - ONT, United States (

Mississippi Valley The Mississippi River is the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest Drainage system (geomorphology), drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson B ...

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 ...

, scattered locales in East) * '' Liatris borealis'' -

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 ...

of PA * '' Liatris × boykinii'' - GA AL * '' Liatris bracteata'' – bracted blazing star - TX * '' Liatris chapmanii'' – Chapman's blazing star - FL GA AL * '' Liatris cokeri'' – Coker's blazing star - NC SC * '' Liatris compacta'' – scaly blazing star - AR OK * '' Liatris creditonensis'' - ONT * '' Liatris cylindracea'' – Ontario blazing star, fewhead blazing star - ONT, central + southeastern United States * '' Liatris cymosa'' – branched blazing star - TX * ''

Liatris × deamii ''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 used ...

'' * '' Liatris densispicata'' - MN * '' Liatris elegans'' – pinkscale blazing star, elegant blazing star - TX OK AR LA MS AL FL GA SC * '' Liatris elegantula'' – shaggy blazing star - TN MS AL GA FL * '' Liatris fallacior'' - ND * '' Liatris × frostii'' - MN MO * '' Liatris garberi'' – Garber's blazing star - FL

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

* '' Liatris gholsonii'' – Gholson's blazing star - FL * '' Liatris × gladewitzii'' - ONT, MI WI IL * '' Liatris glandulosa'' – glandular blazing star - TX * '' Liatris gracilis'' – slender blazing star - MS AL GA FL SC * '' Liatris helleri'' – Heller's blazing star, turgid blazing star - MD WV VA NC * '' Liatris hirsuta'' – hairy blazing star - central + southeastern United States * '' Liatris laevigata'' – shortleaf blazingstar - FL GA * '' Liatris lancifolia'' – lanceleaf blazingstar - NM TX CO WY KS NE SD IA * '' Liatris ligulistylis'' – Rocky Mountain blazing star, strap-style blazing star -

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 ...

SAS

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 ank ...

ND SD MN WI IL IA MO NE WY MT CO NM * '' Liatris microcephala'' – small-head blazing star - NC SC GA AL TN KY * '' Liatris novae-angliae'' – New England blazing-star * ''

Liatris ohlingerae ''Liatris ohlingerae'' is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names Florida blazing star, Florida gayfeather, scrub blazing star, and sandtorch. It is endemic to Florida in the United States, where it oc ...

'' – Florida blazing star, scrub blazing star - FL * '' Liatris oligocephala'' – Cahaba torch - AL * '' Liatris patens'' – spreading blazing star, Georgia blazing star - FL GA SC * '' Liatris pauciflora'' – fewflower blazing star - AL GA FL SC NC * '' Liatris pilosa'' – grass-leaf blazing star, shaggy blazing star - SC NC VA MD DE PA NJ * '' Liatris × platylepis'' - LA * '' Liatris provincialis'' – Godfrey's blazing star - FL * '' Liatris punctata'' – dotted blazing star, plains gayfeather -

SAS

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. With a ...

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 pycnostachya'' – prairie blazing star, button snakeroot, cattail gayfeather, thickspike gayfeather, Kansas gayfeather - QUE eastern United States * '' Liatris × ridgwayi'' - IL KS * '' Liatris savannensis'' – savanna blazing star - FL * ''

Liatris scariosa ''Liatris scariosa'', called savanna blazing star, is a species of flowering plant in the genus ''Liatris'', native to the US states of Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. It is Fire adaptations, fire-ad ...

'' – northern gayfeather, devil's bite - eastern + central United States * '' Liatris × serotina'' - LA * '' Liatris × spheroidea'' - ONT * ''

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 - ONT QUE eastern United States * '' Liatris squarrosa'' – loosescale gayfeather, colicroot, scaly blazing star - central + southeastern United States * '' Liatris squarrulosa'' – southern gayfeather, Appalachian blazing star - south-central + southeastern United States * ''

Liatris × steelei ''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 used ...

'' - IL IN KY * '' Liatris tenuifolia'' – pine-needle gayfeather, shortleaf gayfeather - MS AL GA TN SC * '' Liatris tenuis'' – gulf blazing star, Shinners' gayfeather - TX LA * '' Liatris virgata'' – wand blazing star, King's Mountain gayfeather, piedmont gayfeather - VA WV NC SC GA * '' Liatris × weaveri'' - NE

References

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1580155 Asteraceae genera Flora of North America Cormous plants