Liatris compacta

Liatris compacta grows from rounded corms, that produce hairless stems 22 to 50 centimeters (8.8-20.0 inches) tall. The flowers are in heads with 18-25 flowers per head, the heads are produced singularly or in clusters of 2 to 5 heads. The heads have large leaf-like bracts under them; the stems attaching the heads to the main stem are 3 to 25 millimeters (0.12-1.00 inch) long. The heads are arranged in loose spike-like or raceme-like collections. The basal and early cauline leaves have 3 to 5 nerves and are elliptic-lanceolate in shape; the basal foliage often withers before flowering. The foliage is hairless and may have faint glandular dots; the leaves are gradually reduced in size as they ascend near the tops of the stems. The seed are produced in cypselae fruits that are 5.5 to 8 millimeters long with feathery bristles.[3]

Liatris compacta appears closely related to Liatris squarrosa and has been grouped within that species in the past. It has differences in morphology and a distinctive range, it also grows in different habitats. It, along with Liatris squarrosa, Liatris hirsuta, and Liatris cylindracea are interrelated and similar in appearance; all four species having a tendency for cylindric involucres and have corolla lobes with dense hirsute hairs. Where these species inhabit the same locations, intermediates and intergraded forms exist from hybridization, making identifications arbitrary.