Rough
Blazing-Star Liatries aspera
Description:
Rough Blazing-star is a native, warm-season perennial herb belonging to
family Compositae, or daisy family. It attains a
height of up to 90 cm. It has a rounded, underground bulb (corm).
Leaf: The alternate, linear leaves are rough and
narrow. The upper leaves are sessile and shorter.
Flower: Its
spike of numerous (may be over 100), rounded, rose-purple flower heads makes an
impressive show in the native prairie. Each flower head contains 25 to 40
flowers with numerous, irregularly toothed bracts on a short stalk or no stalk.
Blooming months: August-September
Stem: It has a downy stem.
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Discussion: Rough
blazing star was thought to be useful in the treatment of snakebite. Early
Americans dug the corms and stored them for food. The tea used for snakebites
was also used to treat stomach aches. These plants are important aesthetically
as they brighten the yellows of autumn with contrasting purple.
Distribution:
Rough Blazing-star occurs in dry or sandy soil and, in
Native
or Introduced to
Location:
N41048.677’ W089040.972’
Copyright:
© 2004 Nancy Trainor,
References:
Keller, Carolyn. Prairie Plants of
Ladd, Doug. Tallgrass Prairie Wildflowers, The Nature Conservancy, 1995.
Peterson, Roger Tory. Wildflowers Northeastern/North Central
Mohlenbroch, Robert H., and John W. Voigt. Prairie
Plants of
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