Bristleleaf chaffhead

Liatris squamosa Nuttall

Plants 30–100 cm. Stems finely vil­lous to villoso-hirsute, egland­ular. Leaves: basal and proximal cauline narrowly linear, mostly 10–40 cm; cauline well developed, gradually reduced, faces gland-dotted. Heads in flat-topped, corymbiform arrays. Peduncles finely villous (or hairs somewhat appressed). Involucres 6–9 mm. Phyllaries 15–40+ in 3–5+ series, triangular-lanceolate, apices acute, abaxial faces villous, eglandular. Receptacles paleate (nearly throughout). Corollas eglandular, lobes 1–2 mm. Cypselae eglandular; pappus bristles in ± 2 series. 2n = 20.

Flowering (Jul–)Aug–Oct. Moist to dry sites, pine barrens, savannas, cutover pine woods, wiregrass savannas, pine-palmetto flatwoods, grass-sedge bogs, swamp edges, ditches, depressions; 10–90 m; Ala., Fla., Ga., La., Miss.