Liatris Compositae 911 



la. Kuhnia eupatorioides var. corymbuldsa T. & G. Map 1994. Usually 

 found in sandy to very sandy soil in dry prairie habitats and infrequently 

 on high, gravelly banks of streams. 



Prairies and plains from Ind. westw. and southw. 



8826. LIATRIS Schreb. Gayfeather 



Pappus very plumose; bracts acute or acuminate; corolla lobes pubescent within. 

 Stems and peduncles pubescent; bracts lanceolate, thick, stiff, long sharp-pointed, 



squarrose 1. L. squarrosa. 



Stems and peduncles glabrous; bracts broadly oval, thin, all but the outer abruptly 



short-pointed, appressed 2. L. cyliyidracea. 



Pappus barbellate (not obviously plumose to the naked eye); bracts acute, obtuse or 

 rounded; corolla lobes not pubescent within. 

 Heads oblong, mostly about 10 mm long, in dense spikes, 3-15-flowered. 

 Rachis of spike pubescent. 



Involucral bracts merely acute, their broad tips spreading or recurving 



3. L. Bebbiana. 



Involucral bracts ending in long-acuminate tips. (See excluded species no. 608, 



p. 1095) L. pycnostachya. 



Rachis of spike glabrous, rarely puberulent; involucral bracts obtuse, appressed.. . . 



4. L. spicata. 



Heads hemispheric or campanulate, mostly 15-20 mm long, 15-45-flowered, gen- 

 erally loosely racemose, subcorymbose or sometimes the heads subsessile; bracts 

 obtuse or rounded; rachis of inflorescence pubescent 5. L. scariosa (complex). 



1. Liatris squarrosa Willd. (Lacinaria squarrosa (L.) Hill.) Map 1995. 

 Local in southern Indiana where it is found in poor soil on black oak ridges 

 or in almost pure sand on a black oak ridge in Daviess County; in the 

 northern part of the state it has been reported as occurring on the dunes 

 near Lake Michigan. My specimens are variable in the pubescence of the 

 leaves and of the bracts, and the length of the peduncle. Some of the heads 

 are sessile and some are on peduncles up to 5 cm long. I have a specimen 

 from Perry County with the stem almost glabrous, the leaves glabrous, and 

 the bracts glabrous except the ciliate margins. It also has very narrow 

 leaves and closely approaches the glabrate form of this species, known as 

 Liatris glabrata Rydb. 



Pa. to S. Dak., southw. to Fla. and Tex. 



2. Liatris cylindracea Michx. (Lacinaria cylindracea (Michx.) Ktze.) 

 Map 1996. Local in northern Indiana on open sand hills and dunes and near 

 Lake Michigan on dry interdunal flats. It was reported by Schneck as rare 

 in prairies in the Lower Wabash Valley but since the Indiana side of the 

 Wabash River has no real prairies in the territory where Dr. Schneck 

 collected, I believe that his report should go to the Illinois side of the river. 



W. Ont. to Minn., southw. to Ohio and Mo. 



3. Liatris Bebbiana Rydb. (Brittonia 1: 99. 1931.) (Liati-is pycnos- 

 tachya Michx. of Indiana authors and Gray, Man., ed. 7 and Lacinaria 

 pycnostachya (Michx.) Ktze. of Britton and Brown, Illus. Flora, ed. 2.) 

 Cattail Gayfeather. Map 1997. A very rare species of prairies. Liatris 

 pycnostachya, which does not occur in Indiana, has been reported from 



