Starting about mid-May, every time I visit a prairie remnant I think, "This is the most beautiful time of the year on the prairie!" Then, I visit a week or two later and think, "No, this is the most beautiful time..." Such was the case yesterday at Cressmoor Prairie in Lake County, Indiana. There were Sunflowers of many kinds, Silphiums in abundance, Goldenrods in profusion, Blazing Stars a plenty, and tall, tall grasses in anthesis! And the varied, colorful, and busy insect life...wow!
Cressmoor is one of just a few places in northern Indiana where it's easy to see Savanna Blazing Star (Liatris scariosa var. nieuwlandii). It differs from Rough Blazing Star (Liatris aspera) in having middle involucral bracts non-bullate (not puckered, swollen, or blistered) and flowering peduncles as long as- or longer than the involucres. And, while rarely mentioned in manuals, its upper stems and peduncles are often infused with a dark maroon or purple color.
Rough Blazing Star (Liatris aspera). Note the bullate (puckered, swollen) involucral bracts. Photographed in dry sand prairie along the edge of the Liverpool Sandpits in Lake County, Indiana.
Savanna Blazing Star (Liatris scariosa var. nieuwlandii)
Cressmoor is one of just a few places in northern Indiana where it's easy to see Savanna Blazing Star (Liatris scariosa var. nieuwlandii). It differs from Rough Blazing Star (Liatris aspera) in having middle involucral bracts non-bullate (not puckered, swollen, or blistered) and flowering peduncles as long as- or longer than the involucres. And, while rarely mentioned in manuals, its upper stems and peduncles are often infused with a dark maroon or purple color.Savanna Blazing Star (Liatris scariosa var. nieuwlandii)
Rough Blazing Star (Liatris aspera). Note the bullate (puckered, swollen) involucral bracts. Photographed in dry sand prairie along the edge of the Liverpool Sandpits in Lake County, Indiana.
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