Stem glabrous, 4-10 dm; lvs markedly punctate, linear or nearly so, 6-30 cm נ2-7(-10) mm, the margins irregularly ciliate below, the surfaces sometimes also sparsely hairy; heads sessile or on stout, often bracteate peduncles mostly under 1 cm, closely ascending or somewhat divergent, seldom fewer than 20, forming an elongate, spike-like (sometimes branched), sometimes secund infl; invol cylindric or obconic, 7-11 mm, its bracts firm, coriaceous-herbaceous, strongly punctate, obscurely scarious-margined and slightly or scarcely ciliate, with keeled or cupped, slightly spreading, often acutish (or distinctly acute) tip, the midvein commonly projecting as a short, broad, blunt mucro; fls 5-12 per head; cor 6-8 mm, hairy toward the base within; pappus barbellate; 2n=20. Pine or oak woods, especially in sandy soil; s. Va. to Ga. and S.C., mainly on the piedmont and coastal plain, seldom in the mts. Sept., Oct. Hybridizes with or passes into nos. 5 [Liatris turgida Gaiser] and 7 [Liatris graminifolia Willd.]. (Lacinaria smallii)

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

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