''Liatris compacta'', sometimes called Arkansas gayfeather, is a herbaceous plant species in 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 ...

and genus ''

Liatris ''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 ...

''. It is native to the Ouachitas of west-central

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

and eastern

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

in the central

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, where it is found growing in

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s such as rocky ridges, bluffs, hillsides, weathered sandstone, and open woods. It blooms in June to September and may start blooming as early as May, it has purple flowers grouped into heads. It was known as a variety of ''

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 species, often foun ...

'' as ''Liatris squarrosa var. compacta'' until relatively recently.

Description

''Liatris compacta'' grows from rounded

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, that produce hairless stems 22 to 50 centimeters (8.8-20.0 inches) tall. The

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s are in heads with 18-25 flowers per head, the heads are produced singularly or in clusters of 2 to 5 heads. The heads have large leaf-like bracts under them; the stems attaching the heads to the main stem are 3 to 25 millimeters (0.12-1.00 inch) long. The heads are arranged in loose spike-like or raceme-like collections. The basal and early cauline leaves have 3 to 5 nerves and are elliptic-lanceolate in shape; the basal foliage often withers before flowering. The foliage is hairless and may have faint glandular dots; the leaves are gradually reduced in size as they ascend near the tops of the stems. The seed are produced in cypselae fruits that are 5.5 to 8 millimeters long with feathery bristles.

Taxonomy

''Liatris compacta'' appears closely related to ''

'' and has been grouped within that species in the past. It has differences in morphology and a distinctive range, it also grows in different habitats. It, along with ''

'', '' Liatris hirsuta'', and '' Liatris cylindracea'' are interrelated and similar in appearance; all four species having a tendency for cylindric involucres and have corolla lobes with dense hirsute hairs. Where these species inhabit the same locations, intermediates and intergraded forms exist from hybridization, making identifications arbitrary.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6540306 compacta Flora of Arkansas Flora of Oklahoma Plants described in 1841 Flora without expected TNC conservation status