Liatris

Liatris
Liatris spicata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Asterales
Family:	Asteraceae
Subfamily:	Asteroideae
Tribe:	Eupatorieae[1]
Genus:	Liatris Gaertn. ex Schreb.
Synonyms[1]
Lacinaria Hill Calostelma D.Don Suprago Gaertn. Ammopursus Small

Liatris aspera with goldenrod soldier beetles (Chauliognathus pennsylvanicus) on it

Liatris (/laɪˈætrᵻs/;^[2] is a genus of flowering plants in the boneset tribe within the sunflower family native to North America (Canada, United States, Mexico and the Bahamas).^[3][4][5] Common names include blazing star and gayfeather.^[5][6] Some species are used as ornamental plants, sometimes in flower bouquets.

They are perennials, surviving the winter in the form of corms.^[5]

Liatris species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including the flower moths Schinia gloriosa and Schinia sanguinea, both of which feed exclusively on the genus, and Schinia tertia and Schinia trifascia.

Classification

Liatris is in the tribe Eupatorieae of the aster family. Like other members of this tribe, the flower heads have disc florets and no ray florets. Liatris is in the subtribe Liatrinae along with Trilisa, Carphephorus, and other genera.^[7] Liatris is closely related to Garberia, a genus with only one species endemic to Florida. The two genera can be distinguished by the shrub form of the latter and by karyotype.^[8]

Species^{[1][5][6][9][10][11]}

1. Liatris acidota – sharp blazing star, Gulf Coast gayfeather - TX LA
2. Liatris aestivalis – summer gayfeather - TX OK
3. Liatris aspera – rough gayfeather, tall blazing star - ONT, USA (Mississippi Valley, Great Lakes, scattered locales in East)
4. Liatris borealis - Allegheny Mountains of PA
5. Liatris × boykinii - GA AL
6. Liatris bracteata – bracted blazing star - TX
7. Liatris chapmanii – Chapman's blazing star - FL GA AL
8. Liatris cokeri – Coker's gayfeather - NC SC
9. Liatris compacta – scaly blazing star - AR OK
10. Liatris creditonensis - ONT
11. Liatris cylindracea – Ontario blazing star, fewhead blazing star - ONT, central + southeastern USA
12. Liatris cymosa – branched blazing star - TX
13. Liatris × deamii
14. Liatris densispicata - MN
15. Liatris elegans – pinkscale blazing star, elegant gayfeather - TX OK AR LA MS AL FL GA SC
16. Liatris elegantula – shaggy blazing star - TN MS AL GA FL
17. Liatris fallacior - ND
18. Liatris × frostii - MN MO
19. Liatris garberi – Garber's blazing star - FL Bahamas
20. Liatris gholsonii – Gholson's blazing star - FL
21. Liatris × gladewitzii - ONT, MI WI IL
22. Liatris glandulosa – glandular blazing star - TX
23. Liatris gracilis – slender blazing star - MS AL GA FL SC
24. Liatris helleri – Heller's blazing star, turgid blazing star - MD WV VA NC
25. Liatris hirsuta – hairy gayfeather - central + southeastern USA
26. Liatris laevigata – shortleaf blazingstar - FL GA
27. Liatris lancifolia – lanceleaf blazingstar - NM TX CO WY KS NE SD IA
28. Liatris ligulistylis – Rocky Mountain blazing star, Northern Plains gayfeather, strap-style gayfeather - MAN SAS ALB ND SD MN WI IL IA MO NE WY MT CO NM
29. Liatris microcephala – small-head gayfeather - NC SC GA AL TN KY
30. Liatris ohlingerae – Florida blazing star, scrub blazing star - FL
31. Liatris oligocephala – Cahaba torch - AL
32. Liatris patens – spreading blazing star, Georgia gayfeather - FL GA SC
33. Liatris pauciflora – fewflower blazing star - AL GA FL SC NC
34. Liatris pilosa – grass-leaf gayfeather, shaggy blazing star - SC NC VA MD DE PA NJ
35. Liatris × platylepis - LA
36. Liatris provincialis – Godfrey's blazing star - FL
37. Liatris punctata – dotted blazing star, plains gayfeather - MAN SAS ALB eastern + central USA Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí
38. Liatris pycnostachya – prairie blazing star, button snakeroot, cattail gayfeather, thickspike gayfeather, Kansas gayfeather - QUE eastern USA
39. Liatris × ridgwayi - IL KS
40. Liatris savannensis – savanna blazing star - FL
41. Liatris scariosa – northern gayfeather, devil's bite - eastern + central USA
42. Liatris × serotina - LA
43. Liatris × spheroidea - ONT
44. Liatris spicata – dense blazing star, button snakewort, florist gayfeather, marsh blazingstar, prairie-pine - ONT QUE eastern USA
45. Liatris squarrosa – loosescale gayfeather, colicroot, scaly blazing star - central + southeastern USA
46. Liatris squarrulosa – southern gayfeather, Appalachian blazing star - south-central + southeastern USA
47. Liatris × steelei - IL IN KY
48. Liatris tenuifolia – pine-needle gayfeather, shortleaf gayfeather - MS AL GA TN SC
49. Liatris tenuis – gulf blazing star, Shinners' gayfeather - TX LA
50. Liatris virgata – wand blazing star, King's Mountain gayfeather, piedmont gayfeather - VA WV NC SC GA
51. Liatris × weaveri - NE

References

1. Flann, C (ed) 2009+ Global Compositae Checklist
2. Sunset Western Garden Book. 1995. 606–07.
3. Schreber, Johann Christian Daniel von. 1791. Genera Plantarum 2: 542
4. Tropicos, Liatris Gaertn. ex Schreb.
5. "Liatris Gaertner ex Schreber". Flora of North America.
6. Liatris. Integrated Taxonomic Information system.
7. Schmidt, G. J. and E. E. Schilling (2000). "Phylogeny and biogeography of Eupatorium (Asteraceae: Eupatorieae) based on nuclear ITS sequence data". American Journal of Botany (Botanical Society of America) 87 (5): 716–726. doi:10.2307/2656858. JSTOR 2656858. PMID 10811796.
8. "Garberia A.Gray". Flora of North America.
9. GRIN Species Records of Liatris. GRIN.
10. Biota of North America Program 2013 county distribution maps
11. Turner, B. L. 1997. The Comps of Mexico: A systematic account of the family Asteraceae, vol. 1 – Eupatorieae. Phytologia Memoirs 11: i–iv, 1–272