Liatris spicata Willd.

Button Snakewort

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: Lawson, L.; Spencer, R. (2002). Dahlia. In: Spencer, R.. 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.

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Distribution map

Liatris spicata 'Alba'

Flowers white.

Liatris spicata 'Floristan Violet'

Flowers violet.

Liatris spicata 'Floristan White'

Flowers white. ['Floristan Weiss']

Liatris spicata 'Kobold'

Dwarf plant to 40 cm tall with violet flowers.

kingdom Plantae
phylum   Tracheophyta
class    Magnoliopsida
superorder     Asteranae
order      Asterales
family       Asteraceae
genus        Liatris Schreb.