Rough Blazing Star (Liatris aspera)
By Christopher David Benda
Rough blazing star is a showy species in the Aster family (Asteraceae). It manages to bloom in the mid-summer, when the temperatures are blazing hot. This composite has only disk flowers that are star-like, hence the name “blazing star.” The name “Liatris” is of unknown origin, and the species name “aspera” means “rough,” referring to its rough appearance.
This perennial forb is a tall, slender prairie plant. The leaves are long, linear, pubescent, and with an entire margin. Each stem has lots of basal and cauline leaves. It often occurs in large colonies and prefers open sun in prairies, glades, roadsides, savanna, and woodlands.
Some blazing stars have many flower heads, but this is one of the species that has fewer flower heads, less than twenty. Each flower head is relatively large, and has up to twenty, disk flowers that are purple. The bracts at the base of the flowers are collectively called an involucre, and these involucral bracts (called phyllaries) are “lacerate scarious,” which means thin and membranous, with a curved tip that has an uneven margin. This feature is very distinct and makes identification of this species easy.
The flowers are pollinated by insects with long tongues that can reach the nectar at the bottom of the tubular flower. Liatris corms are a favorite of rodents, especially voles. One landowner tells a story of his dog digging up a vole burrow and finding over one thousand Liatris corms. At $6.00 for a bare root plant from a nursery, the vole had quite a bank account accrued! It is also reported that Native Americans would eat the corms when food was scarce.
This species is common through the central United States, from Minnesota to Texas. It is less common in the east, extending from Virginia to Florida.
