Liatris squarrosa var. glabrata

(Rydberg) Gaiser

Rhodora 48: 401. 1946.

IllustratedEndemic
Basionym: Liatris glabrata Rydberg Brittonia 1: 98. 1931
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 21. Treatment on page 518. Mentioned on page 517, 535.

Stems glabrous. Leaves glabrous. Phyllaries glabrous.


Phenology: Flowering (Jun–)Jul–Aug.
Habitat: Prairies, dunes, flood plains, ditches, roadsides, sandy soils, sandstone hills and outcrops, gravelly hills, clay soils
Elevation: 50–500 m

Distribution

V21-1306-distribution-map.gif

Colo., Iowa, Kans., Nebr., Okla., Tex.

Discussion

Variety glabrata apparently is morphologically discontinuous from var. squarrosa where their ranges closely approach each other (but do not meet) in Texas, and they might be treated as separate species, especially in view of the treatment here of Liatris compacta at specific rank. Within var. squarrosa as treated here, plants along the Gulf coast tend to have much reduced phyllary vestiture (var. alabamensis) and perhaps represent the precursor to var. glabrata. Involucres of var. squarrosa sometimes approach the morphology of L. hirsuta; this appears to be parallel expression of ancestral similarity, because such plants often are long-separated from the geographic range of L. hirsuta. Heads tend to be more numerous and more crowded in var. glabrata than in var. squarrosa.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.
Guy L. Nesom +
(Rydberg) Gaiser +
Liatris glabrata +
Colo. +, Iowa +, Kans. +, Nebr. +, Okla. +  and Tex. +
50–500 m +
Prairies, dunes, flood plains, ditches, roadsides, sandy soils, sandstone hills and outcrops, gravelly hills, clay soils +
Flowering (Jun–)Jul–Aug. +
Illustrated +  and Endemic +
Lacinaria squarrosa +
Liatris squarrosa var. glabrata +
Liatris squarrosa +
variety +