Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

TALL GAYFEATHER

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Liatris aspera Michx.

Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, Chase County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 16-48 inches

Family: Asteraceae - Sunflower Family

Flowering Period: August, September

Also Called:

Button gayfeather, button blazing star.

Stems:

Stiffly erect, 1 to several, unbranched, glabrous or short-hairy.

Leaves:

Alternate, simple, stalked, uppermost sessile, linear-lanceolate to linear, 2 to 8 inches long, .25 to 1.5 inch wide, often covered with resinous dots; margins entire; upper leaves reduced in size.

Inflorescences:

Elongate, spike-like, to 18 inches tall, with few to many well-separated heads; heads sessile or short-stalked, .5 to 1 inch wide; bracts purplish, wrinkled, glabrous, rounded at tips.

Flowers:

Ray florets absent; disk florets 16-40, rose-purple, corollas pubescent inside.

Fruits:

Achenes, pubescent, ribbed, brown, tipped with many barbed bristles, enclosing small seed.

Habitat:

Dry, open, rocky or sandy prairies.

Distribution:

East half of Kansas.

Forage Value:

When in the early growth stage, tall gayfeather is grazed by livestock.

Uses:

Some Great Plains tribes of Native Americans used the boiled leaves and roots to treat intestinal pains.

Comments:

The name button gayfeather comes from the button-like appearance of the flower heads prior to blooming. It is sometimes used in dried floral arrangements.

Tall gayfeather