Prairie Blazing Star - Liatris pycnostachya

Above: Prairie Blazing Star on the shore of Lake Wingra in Wingra Park in Madison, Wisconsin. (7/15/20).

Prairie Blazing Star - Liatris pycnostachya

Prairie Blazing Star is a native plant that has deep rose-purple flower heads which are crowded on dense, bottlebrush-like spikes that can be up to 20" long. Flowers generally open top to bottom on the spikes and each rayless flower head resembles a blazing star.

Prairie Blazing Star grows between two to five feet tall and blooms July -Sept.

Prairie blazing star is similar to Dense blazing star (L. spicata) which is commonly cultivated in gardens but can escape into the wild. Dense blazing star is a "Wisconsin Special Concern" plant and is most common in the extreme southeastern corner of Wisconsin (and Dane County). In general, Dense blazing star (Liatris spicata) is more of an eastern species and is usually not found past Michigan.

Also, Liatris have been known to hybridize where they occur in the same vicinity.

NOTE: I personally can not verify if the images I have on this website page are all of Prairie blazing star and do not include Dense blazing star.

Prairie blazing star blooms: July - September

Dense blazing star blooms: August - September

Other names for Prairie blazing star (Liatris pycnostachya) include: Prairie blazing-star,thick-spike gay-feather, thick-spike blazing-star, Cattail gayfeather, Cattail blazing star.

Other names for Dense blazing star (Liatris spicata) include: Dense gay-feather, Marsh blazing-star, Marsh gay-feather, Sessile blazing-star, Sessile-headed blazing-star.

Above: Prairie Blazing Star on the shore of Lake Wingra in Wingra Park in Madison, Wisconsin on July 29, 2019.

For more information on Prairie Blazing Star, visit Wikipedia.

Or, visit the UW-Madison Wisconsin State Herbarium website page about Prairie blazing star.

Or, visit the UW-Madison Wisconsin State Herbarium website page about Dense blazing star.

Or, visit the Wisconsin Horticulture Division of Extension website page about Liatris varieties common in Wisconsin.

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