Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

HAIRY GAYFEATHER

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Liatris hirsuta Rydb.

[=Liatris squarrosa (L. ) Michx. var. hirsuta (Rydb. ) Gaiser]

Woodson County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 12 to 28 inches

Family: Asteraceae - Sunflower Family

Flowering Period: July, August, September

Stems:

Mostly erect, hirsute.

Leaves:

Basal and cauline, alternate; blade 3-5-nerved, linear, 2 to 6.7 inches long, 1/8 to 1/3 inch wide, gradually reduced distally, margins entire, tip tapering to long point.

Inflorescences:

Heads discoid, solitary or few in loose raceme-like or spike-like arrays. Involucres cylindric to narrowly campanulate, 1/2 to 7/10 inch tall, 1/4 to 2/5 inch wide. Phyllaries in 5-7 series, ovate-triangular to oblong-triangular, margins ciliate, apex usually abruptly short-acuminate, spreading to reflexed.

Flowers:

Ray florets 0. Disk florets 13-30, 2/5 to 3/5 inch long; corollas lavender to purple, lobes pubescent adaxially.

Fruits:

Achenes prismatic with bases narrowed, 10-ribbed, .2 to .28 inch; pappus of plumose bristles ca. 1/3 inch.

Habitat:

Tallgrass prairies, glades, rock outcrops

Distribution:

East 1/3 of Kansas

Origin:

Native

Comments:

hirsuta, rough