Liatris elegans, also known as pinkscale gayfeather or elegant gayfeather ,^[1] is a plant species in the aster family Asteraceae and genus Liatris.

Distribution

It is native to south eastern and south central North America - , where it is found in habitats such as dry, sandy sites with sandy clays soils and dunes. It is found in pine-hardwoods, pine-live oak, longleaf pine and turkey oak plant communities. It blooms in mid to late summer with pink, purplish, white, or yellowish flowers. There are four different varieties.

Description

Liatris elegans grows from rounded or turnip-shaped corms, that produce stems 30 to 120 centimeters tall. The upright growing stems generally have soft hairs but sometimes plants have coarse stiff hairs.

The basal and cauline leaves have one nerve, and the leaves are long and thin, ranging from 6 to 20+ centimeters long and 3 to 8 millimeters wide. The foliage is mostly hairless but may have some soft hairs, and it is gland-dotted. The leaves are gradually reduced in size as they ascend the stem or abruptly reduced near the middle of the stem; the basal and lower stem leaves typically wither away before flowering.

The flowers are in heads with 4 or 5 florets, and the heads normally lack stems but may have 1 to 5 millimeters long ones on some plants. The heads are produced in densely packed spike-like terminal inflorescence. The seed are produced in cypselae fruits that are 3.5 to 5 millimeters long with feathery bristles.^[2]

Taxonomy

There are four varieties.

• Liatris elegans var. carizzana Gaiser
• Liatris elegans var. elegans (Walt.) Michx.
• Liatris elegans var. kralii Mayfield
• Liatris elegans var. bridgesii Mayfield

References

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