| Author | (L.) Willdenow | |
| Distribution | The central and southern Coastal Plain, and the Mountains. A few records elsewhere, but essentially absent from the Piedmont -- owing to two varieties with separate ranges.
Southern Ont. to MI, south to southern FL and LA. Records from northeastern states are introductions. | |
| Abundance | Fairly common to common in the Longleaf Pine (Pinus palustris) belts in the Sandhills and southeastern Coastal Plain. Infrequent in the central Coastal Plain. Uncommon and local in the Mountains, and very rare in the western Piedmont. | |
| Habitat | Wet Longleaf Pine-Wiregrass savannas and flatwoods, ecotones of pocosins, blackwater streamheads and ecotones; in the Mountains mainly in bogs, seepages, and other damp acidic soil. | |
| Phenology | Flowering and fruiting July - early October. | |
| Identification | Blazing-stars typically have single stems, many slender leaves, and a terminal spike-like inflorescencxe of disk florets only. They grow from very hard, roundish, underground corms. Dense Blazing-star grows 2-5 feet tall, stems erect, lower leaves lance-shaped, middle and upper leaves abruptly narrower, shorter, and stalkless. The heads are numerous in a dense spike, have 5-8 pink-purple florets, and occur all around the stem. Variety spicata differs in having leaves gradually smaller up the stem, usually longer involucral bracts, and usually more florets per head. This is one of the few wetland blazing-stars in the state, and it often grows with carnivorous plants. | |
| Taxonomic Comments | Note that the two varieties of L. spicata do not overlap in NC.
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| Other Common Name(s) | Prairie Gayfeather, Marsh Blazing-star | |
| State Rank | S3? [S4] | |
| Global Rank | G5 | |
| State Status | | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | FAC link |
| USACE-emp | FAC link |
