Perennial herb to 1.5 m tall, more or less glabrous. Stems erect. Leaves linear to narrow-lanceolate, to 40 cm long, to 2 cm wide, margins entire. Capitula clustered in dense spikes, to 1 cm across; late summer. Florets reddish purple. Achenes to 6 mm long.
Eastern USA
L. pycnostachya Michx., Button Snakeroot, from SE USA is an erect, usually hairy herb to 1.5 m tall with many small capitula arranged in dense spikes, and reddish purple florets.
Source: (2002). Dahlia. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 4. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 3. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
Flowers white.
Liatris spicata 'Floristan Violet'
Flowers violet.
Liatris spicata 'Floristan White'
Flowers white. ['Floristan Weiss']
Dwarf plant to 40 cm tall with violet flowers.