Cylindrical Blazing Star

This blazing star is an upright, clump-forming perennial that grows to 2’ tall. It is native from Minnesota to Ontario and western New York south to Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. It typically occurs in rocky areas, glades and prairies. Fluffy, rose purple flower heads (each to 1.25” long) appear solitary or in few-flowered racemose inflorescences atop erect, leafy flower stalks. Sharp-pointed involucral bracts form a tight elongated cylinder on each flowerhead, hence the specific epithet and sometimes used common name of cylindrical blazing star. Narrow, linear, grass-like leaves to 10” long decrease in size toward the top of the plant. Blooms in summer. Liatris belongs to the aster family, with each flower head having only fluffy disk flowers (resembling “blazing stars”) and no ray flowers. The feathery flower heads of liatris give rise to another common name of gayfeather.