Liatris cymosa

Liatris cymosa, also known as Aggie-land gayfeather or branched blazing star,[1] is a plant species in the aster family Asteraceae and genus Liatris. It is native to east central Texas in North America, where it is found in habitats such as post oak woodlands, fields, fence rows, woodland openings and edges, in clay soils. It blooms in mid to late summer with purple flower heads. It is of conservation concern.

Liatris cymosa
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Asterales
Family:	Asteraceae
Genus:	Liatris
Species:	L. cymosa
Binomial name
Liatris cymosa (Ness) K. Schum.

It grows from rounded or sometimes elongated corms, that produce stems 20 to 75 centimeters tall. The upright growing stems have appressed hairs that point in the same direction. The basal and cauline leaves have one nerve. The leaves are long and thin, ranging from 8 to 12 centimeters long and 2 to 5 millimeters wide. The foliage is mostly hairless or may have some hairs on the margins; the leaves are gradually reduced in size as they ascend the stem or abruptly reduced halfway up the stem. The flowers are in dense heads with 20 to 25 florets, and the heads have stems that are 20 to 70 millimeters long. The heads are produced in loose cyme-like clusters of 2 to 20, sometimes more, terminating the widely branched stems. The seed are produced in cypselae (a type of fruit) that are 6 to 7 millimeters long with feathery pappi.[2][3]

References

1. "Liatris cymosa", Integrated Taxonomic Information System
2. Nesom, Guy L. (2006), "Liatris cymosa", in Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.), Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA), 21, New York and Oxford – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA
3. Poole, Jackie M. (2007), Rare plants of Texas, College Station: Texas A&M University Press, p. 296, ISBN 1-58544-557-6