Liatris resinosa Nutt.

Locations ofLiatris resinosa Nutt. in Virginia

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Detail

Family
Asteraceae
Botanical Name
Liatris resinosa Nutt.
Common Name
Dense Blazing Star
Synonym(s)
Liatris spicata (L.) Willd. var. resinosa (Nutt.) Gaiser
Flora of Virginia Name/Status
Liatris spicata (L.) Willd. var. resinosa (Nutt.) Gaiser
Comments
Flora of the Southeastern U.S. (Weakley et al. 2023) now treats this taxon, long considered a var. of Liatris spicata, at species rank. The two taxa differ in a number of vegetative and floral characters that are mostly in confluent or slightly overlapping ranges. Liatris resinosa also blooms earlier than L. spicata, despite the latter's occurrence at more northerly latitudes and higher elevations. Finally, the two are geographically separated, L. resinosa being a southeastern Coastal Plain endemic and L. spicata being an inland/Appalachian/northern species. Gaiser (1946, Rhodora 48) confirmed (as L. spicata var. resinosa) specimens collected by Fernald in Dinwiddie and Sussex counties as well as a specimen collected in Sussex County that she deemed intermediate between the vars. Specimens collected in Chesterfield County and the City of Suffolk (Fernald in Rhodora 47: 186, 1949) are presumed for mapping purposes to be Liatris resinosa, but the specimens have not been seen.
Habitat
Wet flatwoods and clearings. Rare, inner Coastal Plain of se. Virginia; not collected recently.
Native Status
Native

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