dense blazingstar, Liatris spicata

The purple spikes of dense blazingstar may be well known to those of you who garden. Cultivated varieties of the native have been very successful, including white ones. Many of those plants get two or three feet tall. Those are often called gayfeather. In the wild, these will be four or five feet tall, and are every bit as beautiful. For example, the openings at Sibley Prairie Preserve are ablaze with them now. Dense blazingstar blooms in prairies and fens in AL, AR, CT, DE, FL, GA, IL, IN, KY, LA, MA, MD, MI, MO, MS, NC, NJ, NY, OH, PA, SC, TN, VA, WI, WV, ON(T), and QC. Sibley Prairie Preserve, Wayne Co MI, 7/24/21. Aster family, Asteraceae.