Stems usually puberulent-strigose (hairs soft, upturned or appressed. Leaves sparsely pilose to glabrescent. Phyllaries usually ciliate, faces glabrous or pubescent.

Flowering (May-)Jul-Aug(-Sep). Oak-pine, pine, scrub oak, roadsides, fencerows, limestone outcrops, sand, sandy loam, chalk, and clay soils; 20-300 m; Ala., Del., Fla., Ga., Ill., Ind., Ky., La., Md., Mich., Mo., N.C., Ohio, S.C., Tenn., Va., W.Va.

Local in southern Indiana where it is found in poor soil on black oak ridges or in almost pure sand on a black oak ridge in Daviess County; in the northern part of the state it has been reported as occurring on the dunes near Lake Michigan. My specimens are variable in the pubescence of the leaves and of the bracts, and the length of the peduncle. Some of the heads are sessile and some are on peduncles up to 5 cm long. I have a specimen from Perry County with the stem almost glabrous, the leaves glabrous, and the bracts glabrous except the ciliate margins. It also has very narrow leaves and closely approaches the glabrate form of this species, known as Liatris glabrata Rydb.