Blazing Stars (Gayfeathers; Liatris)

Missouri boasts nine native species of blazing stars, also called gayfeathers, in genus Liatris. These showy, upright, unbranching spikes of magenta-pink wildflowers typically bloom in sunny habitats. If you’re wondering how to tell if a Missouri plant is a blazing star, and if so, which species you’ve found, this is your page.

Globally, there are about 45 species in genus Liatris. They are native to North America.

As a group, Missouri’s blazing stars all have some things in common:

• Plants are perennial, single stalked or with up to several stalks arising from a common base, erect or ascending, and do not branch. The flowerheads are typically stalkless (or on short stems) and clustered along the top of the plant stalk, usually looking like a spike or wand. The plants bloom from the top down, as opposed to the bottom up.
• Flowers (florets) are tiny and grouped into flowerheads. Unlike more famous members of the sunflower family, blazing stars have no petal-like ray florets. With only disc florets, the flowerheads look fuzzy. Liatris flowers are typically pink to reddish purple or magenta, rarely white; the styles (elongated pistil tips) are 2-branched, threadlike, and protrude far outside the 5-lobed petal tube.
• Leaves are narrow, alternate, and can be so dense on the stem they appear whorled. The leaves at the base of the plant are the largest. The leaves gradually become smaller and narrower up the stem. Leaves near the top of the stem are often linear (grasslike).
• After blooming, the florets of blazing stars mature into seedlike fruits. These are topped with a cluster (pappus) of bristles. In some blazing stars, the bristles are merely equipped with tiny barbs; in others, the bristles are soft and feathery. This distinction can be helpful for identification.

To ID the different species, it helps to understand some anatomy terms:

• Flowerhead — the blossom-like clusters of tiny, tubular flowers (florets) packed together into a single unit. In blazing stars, the flowerheads contain only disc florets (similar to the florets at the disc-like center of a daisy or sunflower). The spacing or density of flowerheads on the stalk of blazing stars can help with IDs. Some blazing stars have the flowerheads so crowded that you cannot see the main stalk between them. In others, the flowerheads are spaced apart so you can see the stalk between them. Some of the latter types have the flowerheads on small stems, holding them out from the central plant stalk, while in others the flowerheads are sessile (stemless, attached directly to the main stalk).
• Florets — the tiny individual flowers that are bunched together in the flowerhead. The number of florets per flowerhead can be helpful for IDs. Pick apart a representative flowerhead or two over a sheet of paper and count the tiny florets that fall from the involucre.
• Involucre (IN-vuh-loo-kur) — the cuplike or vaselike structure at the base of the florets. Its shape can vary quite a bit.
• Involucral bracts (in-vuh-LOO-krul brakts); also called phyllaries — the greenish, leafy or scalelike structures at the base of the involucre. They are often arranged in overlapping series (whorls). Characteristics of involucral bracts can be very useful for IDs, just as if they were tiny leaves. Bract tips can be pointed, rounded, or jagged, and they can be long and slender or abrupt. The bracts can be pressed close against the involucre or they can spread or curl away from the involucre; they can be curved or inflated into swollen-looking pouches. The texture and thickness of bracts can vary, and so can their color (pure green or tinged with purple); and so on.

The common names are not standardized. Each species has more than one common name, and the same common name is often used for more than one species. It is probably easiest to learn the Latin names.

The following list of Missouri’s nine Liatris species is in order (roughly) by how common or widespread they are, with the most commonly encountered species at the top.

Liatris pycnostachya (prairie blazing star; gayfeather; button snakeroot; thickspike gayfeather)

Scattered nearly statewide; occurs in glades, upland prairies, ledges and tops of bluffs, savannas, openings of upland forests, and rarely banks of streams; also ditch banks, fencerows, pastures, railroads, and roadsides.

Most similar to L. spicata, which is rare in Missouri’s natural habitats but is commonly cultivated in landscape plantings and may escape from cultivation. The involucral bracts are different; also, L. spicata in our state is glabrous (not hairy, as L. pycnostachya usually is).

Keys to ID:

• Usually a hairy plant; rootstock a globe-shaped corm.
• Height: usually about 2–5 feet.
• Leaves quite narrow (linear), very numerous, the lower ones to 16 inches long and about ½ inch wide, becoming much shorter higher up; surfaces hairless or with dense, short hairs; the basal and stem leaves with 3 or 5 main veins.
• Blooms July–October.
• Flowerheads densely crowded into an elongated spike at the top portion of the plant stalk, the stalk usually not visible between the heads; with only 4–9 florets (sometimes up to 12) per head.
• Involucre narrowly cup-shaped to nearly cylindrical.
• Involucral bracts hairy, tapered to long, sharply pointed tips that spread or curl backward.

Notes:

• Often seen blooming in large colonies in tallgrass prairies. A famous, favorite prairie flower.
• White-flowering forms exist but are rare.
• Pycnostachya (PICK-no-STACK-yuh) means “thick, dense spike” and refers to the crowded floral spikes.
• Missouri’s populations of this species are variety pycnostachya. Another, hairier form, var. lasiophylla, occurs to our southwest (Texas through Louisiana).

Liatris aspera (rough blazing star; rough gayfeather; button blazing star)

Scattered statewide except for the Bootheel; occurs in upland prairies, loess hill prairies, glades, exposed ledges and tops of bluffs, savannas, openings of upland forests, and rarely banks of streams; also pastures, railroads, and roadsides.

Most similar to L. scariosa and L. squarrulosa. See comments with those. This is the most common and widespread of the three; its swollen, pouchlike involucral bracts that look torn at the edges guarantee the ID. Also, its flowerheads are sessile on the plant stalk.

Keys to ID:

• Plants hairy or smooth; rootstock a corm.
• Height: usually about 2–6 feet.
• Leaves alternate; the lowest ones to 10 inches long and 1 inch wide, widest at the middle, with a petiole (leaf stalk); the upper ones becoming much shorter and stalkless; narrowly lance-shaped; with 1 main vein.
• Blooms August–November.
• Flowerheads alternate along the upper stalk, spaced apart so you can easily see the main plant stalk; flowerheads stemless or with very short stems, to about 1 inch wide, with 14–30 florets; the topmost/terminal head not notably larger than the others.
• Involucre broadly cup- or bell-shaped.
• Involucral bracts looking swollen or pouched; the margins with broad, thin, pale to transparent margins that are irregularly torn or uneven-looking; some bracts or their margins purplish-tinged.

Notes:

• White-flowering forms exist but are rare.
• Aspera means “rough.” It might refer to the texture of the leaves, or to the overall rough, nubby look of the involucre.

Liatris squarrosa (scaly blazing star; scaly gayfeather)

Scattered nearly statewide, but apparently absent from most of the western half of northern Missouri; occurs in glades, ledges and tops of bluffs, openings of dry upland forests, savannas, and upland prairies; also pastures, fencerows, railroads, and roadsides.

Most similar to L. cylindracea (with which it sometimes hybridizes). The involucral bracts are different: they are appressed in cylindracea, but in squarrosa they curl back to make the involucres look like burs.

Keys to ID:

• Plants often hairy; the rootstock a globe-shaped corm.
• Height: usually 8–30 inches, rather short compared to most other blazing stars.
• Leaves: the basal and stem leaves, and most others, with 3 or 5 main veins; the basal leaves to about 8 inches long and ¼ inch wide; becoming smaller and narrower (grasslike) up the stem.
• Blooms July–September.
• Flowerheads few, sessile or on short stalks only to ⅜ inch long, spaced apart so you can easily see the stalk between them, arising from the axils of the upper leaves, with 15–45 florets (sometimes up to 60, especially in the terminal/top flowerhead, which is usually larger).
• Involucre narrowly cup-shaped to roughly cylindrical, resembling a bur due to the reflexed, pointed bracts.
• Involucral bracts long-pointed and spreading, bending back sharply, looking scaly, something like the spines of cockleburs.

Notes:

• Missouri has 3 varieties of this species, with var. hirsuta the most common by far, occurring nearly statewide; it is hairier than other varieties, looking fairly shaggy with long, straight, spreading hairs. Many botanists consider it a separate species, calling it hairy blazing star (or hairy gayfeather, L. hirsuta). Our other varieties are glabrata (more common in northern Missouri) and squarrosa (more common in southern Missouri).
• Squarrosa means “scaly; rough”; it refers to the reflexed (spreading) involucral bracts.

Liatris cylindracea (cylindrical blazing star; dwarf blazing star; few-headed blazing star)

Scattered in the Ozarks and Ozark border and north on the eastern half of the state; occurs in glades, ledges and tops of bluffs, openings of dry upland forests, and upland prairies; also pastures and roadsides.

Most similar to L. squarrosa (with which it sometimes hybridizes). The involucral bracts are different: They are appressed in cylindracea (accentuating the cylindrical shape of the involucre). In L. squarrosa, they curl back to make the involucres look like burs.

Keys to ID:

• A very short blazing star with stiff stems; smooth overall, usually hairless; rootstock a globe-shaped corm.
• Height: usually 8–12 inches, very short; our shortest blazing star.
• Leaves: the basal and stem leaves, and most others, with 3 or 5 main veins; linear (grasslike) or nearly so; to 10 inches long and less than ¼ inch wide, becoming smaller up the stem; stalkless; smooth, usually shiny.
• Blooms July–September.
• Flowerheads alternate, usually on short, stiff stems to 1½ inches long (sometimes sessile; rarely up to 2½ inches), spaced apart so you can easily see the stalk between them, with 10–35 florets.
• Involucre narrowly cup shaped to vase-shaped or nearly cylindrical; the appressed bracts enhance the cylindrical look of the involucre.
• Involucral bracts rounded, triangular, to oval with rounded or short, sharp tips: smooth, flat, appressed (not spreading or curling away).

Notes:

• White-flowering forms exist but are rare.
• Named cylindracea for the elongated, fairly cylindrical involucre at the base of each flowerhead.

Liatris scariosa (savanna blazing star; devil’s bite; large gayfeather; eastern blazing star)

Scattered in the Ozarks and north to Pike County; occurs in upland prairies, glades, exposed ledges and tops of bluffs, savannas, and openings of upland forests; also pastures and open, grassy, disturbed places.

Most similar to L. squarrulosa and L. aspera. L. aspera is the most common of the three and is identified by its pouched or swollen-looking involucral bracts, which look irregularly torn on their edges; also, L. aspera has a much shorter stem for each flowerhead. See also the comments with L. squarrulosa.

Keys to ID:

• Height: usually about 1–6 feet.
• Leaves with 1 main vein, oblanceolate (reverse-lance-shaped) to elliptic, the largest ones at the base with a leaf stalk (petiole); the blades to about 20 inches long and 2 inches wide; leaves becoming smaller and stalkless (sessile) up the stem; at the top of the plant, they may be mostly linear.
• Blooms July–October.
• Flowerheads with 29–80 florets; the heads on stout, rather long stems (about ½ to 1½ inches long); the stems often with several small, loosely spaced, leafy bracts; the plant stalk is visible between the rather loosely spaced flowerheads; the top/terminal flowerhead is usually larger than the rest.
• Involucre broadly cup- or bell-shaped.
• Involucral bracts green, widely oval, the margins pale or purple-edged, erect or ascending, the outer (lowest) row sometimes spreading or reflexed; mostly flat or only slightly swollen, not noticeably flaring outward.

Notes:

• Missouri’s populations of L. scariosa are considered to be variety nieuwlandii.
• Because of its limited distribution and/or small numbers in or state, it is listed as a Missouri species of conservation concern, ranked as imperiled.
• This species, with its huge, fluffy, buttonlike flowerheads and long flowering period, should be cultivated more often.
• Scariosa means thin or shriveled, membranous, scarlike, and not green. This probably refers to the narrow, thin, pale to dark purple edges of the involucral bracts.

Liatris squarrulosa (Appalachian blazing star; southern blazingstar)

Scattered mostly in the Ozark and Ozark border regions, especially in the southeastern quarter of the state; occurs in glades, bases and tops of bluffs, savannas, openings of upland forests, and rarely upland prairies, ditch banks, fencerows, pastures, railroads, and roadsides.

Most similar to L. aspera and L. scariosa. The three species are in a difficult-to-identify group. In Missouri, L. squarrulosa is a relatively short plant, with relatively few flowerheads. However, on Crowley’s Ridge in southeast Missouri, L. squarrulosa is taller, longer, with many-headed flower stalks.

To distinguish between L. scariosa and L. squarrulosa, note differences in number of florets per flowerhead, length of flowerhead stem, presence/numbers of bracts accompanying the flowerhead stem, and the angling of the involucral bracts.

Keys to ID:

• Stems with short, curled hairs, sometimes rough to the touch; rootstock a corm.
• Height: usually about 1–5 feet.
• Leaves with 1 main vein, oblanceolate (reverse-lance-shaped) to narrowly elliptic, the largest ones at the base with a leaf stalk (petiole); the blades to about 10 inches long and 1¾ inches wide; leaves abruptly becoming smaller and mostly stalkless (sessile) up the stem; at the top of the plant, they may be linear.
• Blooms August–November.
• Flowerheads with 11–26 florets (sometimes to 28); these sessile (stemless) or with short stems (not more than about ½ inch long); the flowerheads are alternate on the plant stalk, with the plant stalk easily visible between the heads; a narrow, leafy bract is at the base of each flowerhead where it joins the main plant stalk; the topmost flowerhead is usually larger than the rest.
• Involucre broadly cup- or bell-shaped.
• Involucral bracts green, often purplish, at least at the outer margin, widest at the outer portion with rounded tips (obovate or spatulate), often appearing slightly swollen; nearly all with the tip spreading or reflexed, with only the innermost (topmost) series usually ascending.

Notes:

• Squarrulosa means “full of scales”; it apparently refers to the involucral bracts, which mostly angle away from the involucre and look like scales.

Liatris mucronata (bottlebrush blazing star; narrow-leaved gayfeather)

Uncommon in southwest Missouri, specifically the western portion of the Ozarks (Barry, Stone, Taney, Ozark, Christian, Douglas, Wright, and Texas counties) (the White River watershed and its tributaries); occurs in glades and ledges and tops of bluffs, on limestone and dolomite substrates.

Most similar to L. punctata, which has a thickened, elongated taproot (not a globose corm). Their geographic ranges do not overlap, and this is probably the easiest way to separate the two. Also, L. punctata has gland-dotted leaves with hairs along the young leaf margins.

Keys to ID:

• Looks rather bushy; often has several, unbranching stalks arising from a bulblike, globe-shaped rootstock.
• Stems and leaves glabrous (hairless, smooth).
• Height: usually about 1–3 feet.
• Leaves green, rather soft, mostly arched or curved outward, and glabrous (smooth; hairless) (not grayish green or with hair on the margins of younger leaves); the lowest leaves the largest, to 6 inches long but less than ¼ inch wide, getting gradually smaller up the stem; with 1 main vein. Named “bottlebrush” for the narrow, wide-spreading leaves that stick out at right angles from the main stalk.
• Blooms July–October.
• Flowerheads densely crowded into an elongated spike at the top portion of the plant stalk, the stalk usually not visible between the heads; with only 3–6 florets, leaves are interspersed along the spike, giving a bottlebrush look.
• Involucre only 7–12 mm (about ¼ to ½ inch) long (compare to L. punctata, which averages slightly larger); narrowly cup-shaped to nearly cylindrical.

Notes:

• The classification of L. mucronata is in transition. Its center of distribution is to our southwest (mostly Texas). Recent researchers have classified it as a variety of L. punctata, as var. mucrontata. Missouri’s populations may be most closely related to L. aestivalis, or summer gayfeather, which occurs in Texas and Oklahoma. Genetic studies, and studies of variation among populations in different regions, will sort it out.
• Mucronata refers to some part of this plant being mucronate: having a tip (usually of a leaf) ending in an abrupt, sharp point (a mucro). In this case it may refer to the abrupt, sharp tips of the involucral bracts.

Liatris punctata (dotted blazing star; prairie snakeroot; prairie blazing star)

Uncommon in Missouri’s northwestern border counties (Atchison, Holt, Jackson, Cass, and maybe Bates counties); occurs in loess hill prairies and rarely upland prairies.

Most similar to L. mucronata, which has a globose corm (not a thickened, elongated taproot). Their geographic ranges do not overlap, and this is probably the easiest way to separate the two. Also, L. punctata has gland-dotted leaves with hairs on the young leaf margins.

Keys to ID:

• Looks rather bushy; often has several, unbranching stalks arising from a single thickened, elongated, carrot-shaped taproot.
• Overall, hairless, smooth, except for along the margins of young leaves.
• Height: usually about 1–3 feet.
• Leaves, like L. mucronata, give the plant a bush or bottlebrush look; the lowest leaves the largest, to 3 inches long and less than ¼ inch wide, getting gradually smaller up the stem; they are grayish green, rather thick and leathery, mostly straight, with at least some (the younger leaves) hairy along the margins (the hairs break off with age, leaving tiny, stubby bases); glandular-dotted (look for tiny dots on the undersides of the leaves); otherwise mostly hairless and smooth; with 1 main vein.
• Blooms August–October.
• Flowerheads densely crowded into an elongated spike at the top portion of the plant stalk, the stalk usually not visible between the heads; with only 3–7 florets; leaves are interspersed along the spike, giving a bottlebrush look.
• Involucre 10–14 mm (about ⅜ to ⅝ inch) long (compare to L. mucronata, which averages slightly smaller); narrowly cup-shaped to nearly cylindrical.

Notes:

• White-flowering forms exist but are rare.
• Missouri’s populations of L. punctata are considered to be variety punctata. Because of its limited distribution and/or small numbers in or state, it is listed as a Missouri species of conservation concern, ranked as vulnerable.
• Some botanists consider the very similar species L. mucronata to be a variety of L. punctata; they classify L. mucronata as L. punctata var. mucronata.
• Punctata means “dotted” and refers to the tiny resin dots on the undersides of the leaves and bracts.

Liatris spicata (dense blazing star; marsh blazing star; button snakeroot)

Uncommon in Missouri — in the wild. Common in cultivation, however, and may escape from cultivation in some places.

Most similar to L. pycnostachya, a widespread, common species growing nearly statewide in natural habitats, which has the involucral bracts tapered to long, sharply pointed tips that are spreading or curved backward (instead of rounded or broadly angled to a bluntly pointed tip that is appressed to the involucral cup). L. pycnostachya is also typically a hairy plant, which L. spicata in Missouri is not.

Keys to ID:

• Stems hairless, smooth (in Missouri); rootstock a globe-shaped corm.
• Height: usually about 1–5 feet.
• Leaves quite narrow (linear), very numerous, the lower ones to 16 inches long and about ½ inch wide, becoming much shorter higher up; glabrous (smooth, lacking hairs) (in Missouri); the basal and stem leaves with 3 or 5 main veins.
• Blooms July–October.
• Flowerheads densely crowded into an elongated spike at the top portion of the plant stalk, the stalk usually not visible between the heads; with only 4–8 florets (sometimes up to 14).
• Involucre narrowly cup-shaped to nearly cylindrical.
• Involucral bract tips are appressed (pressed flat against the involucre) and are often bluntly rounded.

Notes:

• As a native, L. spicata might be gone from our state. The only known Missouri native site for this species was at an upland prairie in Oregon County, near Bardley, Missouri (close to the border with Arkansas), but although a population of this species lived there in the 1930s, L. pycnostachya has since become common at the site, and the two have hybridized extensively, so that pure L. spicata apparently no longer exists there. As a Missouri species of conservation concern, L. spicata is listed as extirpated.
• Meanwhile, this is the species most commonly available at garden centers. L. spicata is common elsewhere in the eastern United States, and it is often cultivated by gardeners. It may escape from cultivation.
• Some cultivated varieties may have white flowers, compact growth habit, extra-long or strong stalks (good for the florist trade), or other unusual characters.
• Spicata means “spicate” and refers to the unbranching spikes of stalkless flowers.

Liatris Hybrids: Where they grow near one another, different Liatris species may interbreed and create hybrids. The hybrid offspring plants are often fertile and can make a colony. If you find a blazing star (or patch of blazing stars) that seems to be intermediate between some of the descriptions above, you may have found a hybrid. Look around for one or two of the possible parent species growing nearby.

Similar species: The daisy/sunflower family is very large, and many species also have pinkish-purple, fuzzy-looking flowerheads. Examples include ironweeds, knapweeds, thistles, Joe-Pye weeds, and mist flowers. Blazing stars are distinguished by their growth habit: plants with unbranching stalks bearing stemless or short-stemmed flowerheads in wandlike spikes or spike-like elongated clusters at the tops of the stalks.