Dense Blazing Star is a clump-forming perennial found naturally in moist meadows in Eastern North America. In the Carolinas it is reported mostly in coastal counties. Dense Blazing Star gets its name from its spectacular bottle brush flower stalks, which rise straight and sturdy to four or five feet from grass-like basal leaves. The flower is pinkish purple and blooms from the top of the flower spike down. It prefers full sun and moist conditions but is drought tolerant once established. The plant is very popular in pollinator gardens not only because of the beautiful vertical accent when flowering but also because it attracts butterflies, bees, and birds (including hummingbirds) through late summer and into September (about 3 weeks). In addition, the flowers make excellent cut flowers. This is a fine garden plant and the most wet-loving of the genus.
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Liatris spicata
Key Info
Scientific Name: Liatris spicata (L.) Willd.
Common Names: Sessile Blazing-star, Dense Blazing Star, Marsh Blazing Star, Dense Gayfeather, Kansas Gayfeather, Prairie Gayfeather, Marsh Gayfeather, Dense Liatris, Marsh Liatris, Button Snakewort, Liatris callilepis
Family Names: Asteraceae (Composite, or Daisy Family)
Plant Type: Herbaceous perennial
Light Requirement: Full sun
Leaf Retention: Deciduous
Flower Color: Rosie purple pink
Special Characteristics: Tolerates heat and humidity, Tolerates drought, Attracts bees, Attracts butterflies, Attracts Hummingbirds, Good cut flowers, Attracts birds
Additional Info
Habit: Erect, slender, clump-forming perennial; unbranched stems rise from a central basal rosette The root system consists of a corm with shallow fibrous roots. Colonies of plants are often formed by means of clonal offsets that involve the production of new corms.
Height: 3' to 4'
Spread: 2'
Soil Conditions: Moist, well drained; acidic; sandy loam, loam gravelly loam.
Leaves: Alternate, linear, grass-like leaves with smooth margins, up to 10" long and about 1/3" across, are clustered at the base of the stem. Leaves extend up the stem decreasing in size toward the top. Each leaf has a distinct central vein. The leaves are medium green and smooth to sparsely hairy.
Flowers (or reproductive structures: One or more stalks arise from a basal clump of narrow, grass-like, medium green leaves, each stalk supporting a 6-12-inch or more spike of sessile, rose-purple (sometimes white), closely set flower heads. The fluffy, purple flower heads are about 1/2" across, consisting of 4-10 disk florets and no ray florets, blooming from the top of the spike down. The protruding styles give the flower an overall feathery appearance.
Fruit: In fall the florets are replaced by small achenes with stiff bristles at their apices; these bristles are light brown.
Natural Distribution: Moist, open woods and meadows, marsh edges, moist to mesic prairies.
USDA Hardiness Zone: 3 to 8
USDA Wetland Indicator Status in NC: FAC
Pollination: Bees, butterflies, skippers and other insects.
Wildlife Connections: In addition to the nectar and pollen gathering of bees, butterflies and other insects, and seed gathering by birds, mammals eat these plants as well: groundhogs and rabbits favor younger plants, while deer and livestock are more likely to browse on mature plants. The corms are eaten by the voles (Illinoiswildflowers.info).
Propagation: By root division in spring or from seeds, which require both scarification and stratification.
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