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Liatris spicata
Also called Prairie feather, Button Snakewort, Florist Gayfeather, Marsh Gayfeather, Blazingstar, Gayfeather, Marsh Blazingstar
Dense blazing star is a hardy North American perennial with tall spikes of purple (sometimes white) feather-like flowers that bloom in summer. It thrives in full sun and needs well-drained soil that stays evenly moist during its first season.
Liatris spicata, the dense blazing star, prairie feather, gayfeather or button snakewort, is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to eastern North America where it grows in moist prairies and meadows.
The plants have tall spikes of purple flowers resembling bottle brushes or feathers that grow 1–5 ft (0.30–1.52 m) tall. The species grows in hardiness zones 3–8, stretching from the Midwest to the East Coast, eastern and western Canada.
Liatris spicata is a garden flower in many countries around the world, grown for its showy purple flowers (pink or white in some cultivars). They bloom in July through August or September, depending on where in their range they are located.
Under cultivation it is found under many names including button snakewort, Kansas gay feather, blazing star, Liatris callilepis.
Liatris spicata was historically used medicinally by Native Americans as a carminative, diuretic, stimulant and expectorant herb. In addition to these uses, the Cherokee used the plant as an analgesic for pain in the back and limbs and the Menominee used it for heart issues. The root/corm of the plant is the part most often used. Native Americans also used the plant to treat swelling, abdominal pain and spasms/colic, and snake bites. Currently, the plant is used for a sore throat by gargling an infusion, as an herbal insect repellent, and in potpourri.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Liatris spicata by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
