![Liatris spicata, (Gayfeather, (Dense) Blazing Star) emerging leaves in March](https://i2.wp.com/mgnv.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Liatris_spicata-1_Mar_ELM-768x1024.jpg?ssl=1&resize=2000%2C2000)
![Liatris spicata, (Gayfeather, (Dense) Blazing Star) leaves and developing spikes in May.](https://i0.wp.com/mgnv.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Liatris_spicata-3_May_ELM-768x1024.jpg?ssl=1&resize=2000%2C2000)
![Liatris spicata, (Gayfeather, (Dense) Blazing Star) buds in June.](https://i2.wp.com/mgnv.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Liatris_spicata_Flower_Buds-3_Jun_ELM-768x1024.jpg?ssl=1&resize=2000%2C2000)
![Liatris spicata, (Gayfeather, (Dense) Blazing Star) bloom in June. Photo by Elaine L. Mills, 2015-06-29, Meadowlark Botanical Gardens.](https://i2.wp.com/mgnv.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Liatris_spicata_Jun_ELM.jpg?ssl=1&resize=612%2C612)
![Masse of Liatris spicata, (Gayfeather, (Dense) Blazing Star) blooms in June. Photo by Elaine L. Mills, 2015-06-29, Pollinator Garden opposite Gulf Branch Nature Center.](https://i2.wp.com/mgnv.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Liatris_spicata_en_Masse-1_Jun_ELM.jpg?ssl=1&resize=612%2C612)
![Spike of Liatris spicata with bumble bee](https://i2.wp.com/mgnv.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Spike_Liatris_spicata_bumble_bee_Jul_MMF-1024x1024.jpg?ssl=1&resize=2000%2C2000)
![A determinate spike of loosely to densely packed sessile florets of Liatris spicata](https://i1.wp.com/mgnv.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Sessile_Liatris_spicata_flowers_Jul_MMF-1024x1024.jpg?ssl=1&resize=1537%2C1537)
![Liatris spicata, (Gayfeather, (Dense) Blazing Star) seed heads in September. Photo by Elaine L. Mills, 2014-09-30 Pollinator Garden, opposite Gulf Branch Nature Center, Arlington, Virginia.](https://i0.wp.com/mgnv.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Liatris_spicata_Seed_Heads-2_Sep_ELM.jpg?ssl=1&resize=459%2C459)
![Antrorsely (upwardly directed) barbellate pappi of native Liatris spicata](https://i2.wp.com/mgnv.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Pappi_antrorsely_barbellate_and_Cypselae_Liatris_spicata_Nov_MMF-1022x1024.jpg?ssl=1&resize=2000%2C2000)
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Tried and True Native Plant Selections
for the Mid-Atlantic
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Liatris spicata ([Dense] Blazing Star, Gayfeather)
Tall and upright, Gayfeather provides nice vertical form in a garden. Its purplish, feathery flower spikes contrast well with yellow-flowered, mound-forming plants. Natural populations are widely scattered in the Mid-Atlantic Region.*
*It is native to DC, historical in DE, and native to the southeastern and central western counties in PA. In VA, it is infrequent in the mountains and rare in the Piedmont, although often abundant where found, including Arlington, Fairfax, and Loudoun counties.
Learn more about other Mid-Atlantic plants:
Tried and True Native Plant Fact Sheets