2. Lacinaria Cylindracea (Michx.) Kuntze. Cylindric Blazing Star

Fig. 4178

Liatris cylindracea Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 2: 93.

1803. Liatris graminifolia Willd. Sp. Pl. 3: 1636. 1804. Lacinaria cylindracea Kuntze, Rev. Gen. Pl. 349.

1891.

Glabrous or nearly so, stout, 1°-1 1/2° high, sometimes branched above. Leaves narrowly linear, rigid, scarcely punctate, 3'-/ long, 1"-2" wide; heads several or numerous (rarely solitary), peduncled, or the lower sessile, turbi-nate-cylindric, 1/2'-1' high, 4"-6" thick, 15-60-flowered; bracts of the involucre imbricated in 5 or 6 series, broadly oval, appressed, abruptly acuminate at the apex; flowers purple; pappus very plumose.

In dry soil, western Ontario to Minnesota, south to Illinois and Missouri. July-Sept.

3. Lacinaria Elegans (Walt.) Kuntze. Handsome Blazing Star

Fig. 4179

Stoepelina elegans Walt. Fl. Car. 202. 1788.

Liatris elegans Willd. Sp. Pl. 3: 1635. 1804.

Lacinaria elegans Kuntze, Rev. Gen. Pl. 349. 1891.

Densely and finely pubescent, rarely glabrate, 2°-3° high. Leaves linear, very punctate, 1'-5' long, 1"-3" wide, the upper much smaller than the lower and soon reflexed; heads 4-5-flowered, 6"-7" high, narrowly campanulate, very numerous in a dense spike or raceme sometimes a foot long; bracts of the involucre in 2 or 3 series, the inner ones linear, dilated above into oblong or lanceolate acuminate rose-colored petaloid tips, or sometimes white; pappus very plumose; flowers purple.

In dry soil, Virginia to Florida, Alabama, Arkansas and Texas. Aug.-Oct.

4. Lacinaria Punctata (Hook.) Kuntze. Dotted Button-Snakeroot

Fig. 4180

Liatris punctata Hook. Fl. Bor. Am. 1: 306. pl. 55. 1833.

Lacinaria punctata Kuntze, Rev. Gen. Pl. 349. 1891.

Glabrous, or sparingly pubescent, 6-30' high; root-stock stout, branching, or globose. Leaves linear, rigid, very punctate, 2'-6' long, about 1" wide, or the lower 2", the upper gradually shorter, all erect or ascending; heads 3-6-flowered, 6"-8" long, sessile, crowded into a dense spike; spike commonly leafy below; involucre narrowly campanulate, acute or acutish at the base, its bracts oblong, cuspidate or acuminate, often ciliate on the margins, sometimes woolly, imbricated in 4 or 5 series; flowers purple; pappus very plumose.

In dry soil, Minnesota to Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Montana, Missouri, Texas, New Mexico and Sonora. Recorded from Ohio. Aug.-Oct.

5. Lacinaria Acidota (Engelm. & Gray) Kuntze. Slender Button-Snakeroot

Fig. 4181

Liatris acidota Engelm. & Gray, Bost. Journ. Nat. Hist. 5: 218. 1847.

Lacinaria acidota Kuntze, Rev. Gen. Pl. 349. 1891.

Similar to the preceding species, but usually glabrous throughout, the rootstock globose, or elongating. Stem 20 high, or less, slender. Leaves narrowly linear, 1/4"-1/2" wide, or the lower wider, slightly punctate, 1'-4' long, the upper gradually shorter; spike slender, naked, or sparingly leafy at the base, 4'-10' long; heads 3-5-flow-ered, 6"-9' long; involucre narrowly oblong-campanulate, its bracts oblong to ovate-lanceolate, more or less punctate, abruptly or gradually acuminate; glabrous or sparingly ciliate; flowers purple; pappus plumose.

Prairies, Kansas to Arkansas and Texas. Aug.-Oct.