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Rough blazing-star,
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Family:
Asteraceae or Aster Liatris: meaning lost in antiquity
Lacerate blazing-star, rough blazing-star, tall gay-feather |
Grows 6 to 48
inches tall in sunny open dry to dry-mesic sandy prairies.
 The leaves are
rough, linear 1/2 to 3/4 inch wide and often with resinous dots on them.
The
broadly rounded bracts, beneath the flowers, with crisp curled edges, helps
identify this species.
The flower heads attach to the main stiff, erect, downy stem either
without a stalk or on a very short one.
As with all plants in the Asteraceae family, the flower head is
made up of many small florets. In late September to early October the seeds
with fuzzy hairs replace the bright pink flowers ripening from the top down
to be dispersed by the wind. |
Ethnobotany:
The plants grows from a rounded, fiber-covered corm (bulb). This bulb was
used by Native Americans to increase the endurance of their horses. It was
also used as a diuretic, stimulant, and a diaphoretic for humans. The corms
were once dug and stored for winter use as food. The leaves produced a tea
that was used to treat snakebite and for stomach aches. The stem has been
used to produce a yellow dye using alum, chrome, tin or iron as mordants. Other facts:
This plant responds positively to fire. So the season after burning, it will
often be seen in dense
stands Propagation: The seeds can be easily collected by running your hand up the stems. Always leave some seeds on the plant to repopulate its own area. Scatter them in the late fall to be buried by snow and wait for the glorious bloom in the late summer or early fall in the coming years. Blooming Buddies include: yellow - gray goldenrod (Solidago nemoralis), few-leaved sunflower (Helianthus pauciflorus); white - fragrant cudweed (Gnaphalium obtusifolium var. obtusifolium); pink -pale purple coneflower (Echinacea pallida). |
In this
case about 20-40 per head.
contrasting with the
yellow of the goldenrods.