Liatris cylindracea (Dwarf Blazing Star)
Liatris cylindracea (Dwarf Blazing Star)
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Pure Live Seed
Pure Live Seed
Seed is provided in Pure Live Seed (PLS) unless otherwise stated.
Pure Live Seed (PLS) expresses the viable seed content of a seed lot using its purity and germination or viability test results. It helps you compare seed lots and calculate how much bulk seed is needed to meet a specified PLS planting rate.
PLS weight and bag weight
PLS weight is not the same as the total weight of seed in a bag. For example, a lot with 80% purity and 75% viability contains 60% PLS: 80 × 75 ÷ 100 = 60. Supplying 10 lb PLS from that lot requires about 16.67 lb of bulk seed.
Use the current seed test and the stated basis of the mix specification. Germination calculations may include applicable hard or dormant seed. Seed-count estimates also require the number of seeds per pound; PLS alone does not provide a seed count.
What to check when buying a mix
Check whether each rate is stated in PLS pounds, bulk pounds, or a combination. A mix with both bases should not be described as having an all-PLS total.
PLS does not remove weed seeds or guarantee establishment. Review the seed label and analysis for weed content, and match site preparation, planting conditions and follow-up management to your project.
Sources: USDA NRCS, Understanding Pure Live Seed and The Importance of Seed Quality for Natural Resource Conservation.
Weight Conversions lbs. to oz.
Weight Conversions lbs. to oz.
0.01 pounds = 0.16 ounces
- 0.1 pounds = 1.6 ounces
- 0.25 pounds = 4 ounces
- 0.5 pounds = 8 ounces
- 0.75 pounds = 12 ounces
- 1.00 pounds = 16 ounces
Cylindrical blazing star stays shorter than many other blazing stars. Rocky slopes and lean, sunny ground suit it, with tall, competitive neighbors kept away.
For Liatris cylindracea, choose full sun and dry soil. Recorded habitats include dry upland prairies; Hill prairies; Rocky woodland openings; Oak savannas; Limestone glades; River bluffs and cliffs; Moist sand flats. Reported height: 1–1½ ft.
Growth habit: corm-forming perennial that occasionally produces offsets. Root structure: corm. Choose neighboring plants with compatible light and moisture needs, and allow space for their mature growth.
Plant specifications
Key growing facts
| Sunlight | Full sun |
|---|---|
| Soil moisture | Dry |
| Height | 1–1½ ft |
| Bloom season | Mid- to late summer |
Native landscape companions
For full sun and dry soil, consider these native plants alongside Liatris cylindracea:
| Companion plant | Height |
|---|---|
| Prairie Onion (Allium stellatum) | About 12–18 in |
| Wild Petunia (Ruellia humilis) | About 1 ft |
| Prairie Alumroot (Heuchera richardsonii) | 1 to 2 feet |
| Whorled Milkweed (Asclepias verticillata) | ½–2 ft |
These landscape suggestions combine overlapping growing needs with documented plant associations. Match soil, seasonal wetness and mature spread to your site. Remnant records are described separately under Plant communities & associates.
Show / hide ▾Growing & planting details
| Growth habit | Corm-forming perennial that occasionally produces offsets |
|---|---|
| Root form | Corm |
| Drought tolerance | Strong drought tolerance reported |
| Deer browsing | Deer readily browse the plant. |
Plant identification & seed reference
| Botanical name | Liatris cylindracea |
|---|---|
| Other common names | cylindrical blazing star |
| Plant family | Asteraceae |
Plant characteristics
The shortest of the blazing stars native to the Chicago Region, Dwarf Blazing Star, reaches only about a foot. A cluster of fluffy violet flowers begins blooming starting in July and blossom into October. The bright green strappy leaves decrease in size as they ascend the stem. Beloved of pollinators, especially bees and monarchs. A few moths species choose this plant as a larval host. Unfortunately, if you have rabbit and deer they readily over consume it.
Show / hide ▾Plant communities & associatesDocumented community records
North Eldred — hill prairie
Native hill-prairie stand surveyed in 1949–1951. These dated records do not establish presence today.
Other native plants recorded in this surveyed community: Amorpha canescens, Bouteloua curtipendula, Ceanothus americanus, Echinacea pallida, Euphorbia corollata, Liatris aspera, Lobelia spicata, Monarda fistulosa, Phlox pilosa, Physostegia virginiana.
Evers 1955, Table 14. Selected associates from the same community; records do not show immediate neighbors or prescribe planting ratios.
Valmeyer — hill prairie
Native hill-prairie stand surveyed in 1949–1951. These dated records do not establish presence today.
Other native plants recorded in this surveyed community: Amorpha canescens, Bouteloua curtipendula, Ceanothus americanus, Echinacea pallida, Euphorbia corollata, Heuchera richardsonii, Liatris aspera, Monarda bradburiana, Phlox pilosa, Pycnanthemum pilosum.
Evers 1955, Table 14. Selected associates from the same community; records do not show immediate neighbors or prescribe planting ratios.
Chautauqua — hill prairie
Native hill-prairie stand surveyed in 1949–1951. These dated records do not establish presence today.
Other native plants recorded in this surveyed community: Amorpha canescens, Bouteloua curtipendula, Camassia scilloides, Echinacea pallida, Euphorbia corollata, Heuchera richardsonii, Juncus dudleyi, Monarda fistulosa, Ruellia humilis, Silphium integrifolium.
Evers 1955, Table 14. Selected associates from the same community; records do not show immediate neighbors or prescribe planting ratios.
Show / hide ▾Native range & C-value
State nativity describes a broad range. Use the Chicago-region assessment for local context; a state listing does not establish county nativity.
| Wetland indicator — Corps Chicago 2017 table | UPL |
|---|---|
| C-value — Chicago region, Flora 2017 | 10 |
| Chicago-region native — Flora 2017 | Yes |
| Native range — U.S. states | Alabama; Arkansas; Georgia; Illinois; Indiana; Iowa; Kansas; Kentucky; Michigan; Minnesota; Missouri; New York; Ohio; Oklahoma; Tennessee; Wisconsin |
| County nativity | Not yet verified; occurrence records do not establish nativity. |
Show / hide ▾Pollinators & wildlife
Caterpillars & other plant-feeding insects
This plant has published caterpillar host records for the butterflies and moths listed below. These are larval feeding relationships, separate from adult nectar visits. The records span a North American literature compilation and do not establish that every insect occurs locally or uses only this plant.
Moths
- Schinia sanguinea — Bleeding Flower Moth
Show / hide ▾Frequently asked questions
What are the ideal growing conditions for Dwarf Blazing Star?
Light: Full sun. Soil moisture: Dry.
Is Dwarf Blazing Star deer and herbivore resistant?
Deer readily browse the plant. Even plants described as resistant may be browsed. Use physical protection where deer damage is a concern.
When should I expect Dwarf Blazing Star to bloom?
Typical flowering period: Mid- to late summer. Timing varies with location and weather.
Show / hide ▾Sources & ecological notes
Landscape companion selection: Natural Communities compared the growing requirements shown on these species pages with selected source records: Hill prairie — Illinois. The shortlist is a planting-design inference. A shared record does not establish adjacency, identical soil requirements, local seed origin, or a tested planting combination. Regional synthesis records retain their documented focal-to-associate scope.
Native range & ecological ratings: Flora of the Chicago Region (2017), via Universal FQA; USACE Chicago FQA (2017); Kew WCVP / Plants of the World Online.
Growing conditions & other references: Illinois Wildflowers, John Hilty.
Wildlife records: Shropshire & Tallamy: caterpillar hosts (2025).
Native range does not identify the origin of the seed or plants offered. Community and wildlife records apply to the locations and conditions described.
Research notes & credits
USACE/ERDC fqadata — Chicago Region FQA 2017. Herman, B., Sliwinski, R. & Whitaker, S. (2017), Chicago Region FQA Calculator; distributed by USACE/ERDC in fqadata under CC0. Values may differ from Flora of the Chicago Region (2017). CC0 dedication.
Range data: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; 4 June 2026 release, accessed 7 September 2026. © The Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. CC BY 3.0; selected and reformatted. Kew cannot warrant the quality or accuracy of these data. This use has no Kew endorsement.
Caterpillar host records: Shropshire, K.J. & Tallamy, D.W. (2025), Lepidoptera of North America, Supplement 1. Contains information from this database made available under the Open Database License (ODbL 1.0). Natural Communities selected species-level records and screened source qualifications. The complete selection and transformation instructions for this page are available below under the same license.
Flora rating attribution: Kenneth Johnson (2018), Flora of the Chicago Region UFQA Database, following Gerould Wilhelm and Laura Rericha (2017), Flora of the Chicago Region: A Floristic and Ecological Synthesis. Individual rating facts are presented with original commentary; the calculator’s software license is not treated as a license for the underlying Flora publication.
Caterpillar research records
Plant: Liatris cylindracea
Record scope: Host literature synthesis; no county nativity or local insect occurrence inferred.
Shropshire & Tallamy (2025) · Original research dataset · Reuse license: ODbL-1.0
| Plant names in the source | Source insect record IDs |
|---|---|
| Liatris cylindracea | 211266 |
How these records were selected
To reproduce this selection, use the “UDELep May 2025” worksheet in the original research dataset.
- Match the insect record IDs above to column A (UDLepID). Within each table row, pair every listed insect ID with every listed source plant name.
- Use the first two words in column H for the insect’s scientific name, column E for its common name, and column AB for its source category.
- Treat the selected pairs as reported caterpillar host records. Keep all other source fields unchanged and outside this selected table. Include no other rows or host pairs.
- Group butterflies and skippers together, and the other categories as moths. Retain the source’s exotic-category labels and sort display names by scientific insect name.
Growing guidance: Illinois Extension — Keeping deer out of the yard and garden. Selected facts in original wording. General deer advice is not a species resistance rating.
Additional community records: Evers (1955), Hill Prairies of Illinois. Hill-prairie records adapted from Evers (1955), © University of Illinois Board of Trustees, CC BY 4.0. Selected facts and taxonomic links; source spellings and historical survey dates retained.
Plant Shipping & Care
Plant Shipping & Care
We want to ensure that our customers get what they want, a native backyard oasis. To do that, we need to follow a few simple guidelines and give you some information and pointers to make sure you get your plants delivered in a healthy state.
As a reminder, you will receive an email to confirm your pickup or shipping window just before the plants are ready. See Order Fulfillment below for seasonal fulfillment windows.
Choices to Receive Your Plants & Accessories
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- Container trees and shrubs: Some #3 and #5 container options are offered for scheduled pickup only. Check the selected product option and the cart pickup instructions before ordering. Pickup and shipped items require separate orders where indicated in the cart.
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- Pickup locations and dates are confirmed by email. Please wait for confirmation before traveling to a pickup site. Our offices are not retail stores or nursery pickup locations.
Order Fulfilment - When Your Plants or Other Items Will Be Ready
We take orders all year long and seed is shipped all year, but we only provide the plants to you in certain fulfillment windows to ensure healthy plants.
Wholesale Orders
- Shipped or are Ready For Pick Up As Requested.
Retail & Website Orders
- Seed Typically Ships Out Within One Week Of Order All Year Long
- Typically, single species flats ship when ready, sometimes as soon as early to mid-April (depends on weather) through early-October.
- Mixed species kits are batched and shipped as indicated on the product page.
- If a plant order is placed while outside of the plant fulfillment window your plants will be reserved through your payment, however, the order will not be fulfilled and shipped until the following spring. We don't want to provide you plants when they won't be happy during the cold winter months.
- Early in the spring and later in the fall certain species may be dormant or partially dormant with brown leaves, however they will return to grow healthy next growing season.
- Your order may arrive in several different shipments.
- If certain plants within an order will not be available until a later date, we may choose to hold the full order until all are ready. In certain circumstances, we may choose to send them in two separate shipments
- Fulfillment is always dependent upon plant availability. We try our best but sometimes plants do not overwinter well and perish. If a plant is on back order you will receive an email indicating the estimated shipping date. If we can not provide the plant we will first notify you and give you an option of substitution or a refund of that individual species.
- Plants are typically only packaged and shipped on Mondays to ensure they do not sit in the harsh delivery facility for extended periods of time over the weekend. You will receive a confirmation email once your delivery has been shipped and to estimate your delivery date.
- Apparel & accessories are ready typically within one to two weeks. See product page for holiday shipping.
Where We Ship
What to Expect When Receiving Your Delivery
- Your plants will be packaged with the utmost care
- We will need to cut back certain plants prior to shipping. This seems counter-intuitive, however, the fewer leaves the less water the plants can lose during shipping, resulting in healthier plants for you. This also enables the plants to fit within the protective packaging and shipped safely.
Shipments
- Larger plant shipments will look similar to the picture below with a tray of your plants and a cardboard box to protect them during shipping.
What to Do With Your Plants After Receiving Your Delivery
- Unpack your order IMMEDIATELY
- Inspect for damage and report any issues immediately to Natives@NaturalCommunities.net
- Water your plants
- Install your plants as quickly as possible and water the entire garden area thoroughly
- If you cannot install your plants immediately
- Some plants may not be in a container, put them into some kind of a container such as a paper cup with loose soil until installation
- Make sure each plant is receiving the appropriate amount of light.
- Continue to water daily each morning and possibly again in the afternoon
- No additional fertilizer is needed
Seed Shipping & Care
Seed Shipping & Care
Seed ships all year and typically ships within a week of an order being placed.
We have attempted to put together some basic information regarding native seed installation, establishment, and maintenance. We hope you find it helpful. If you need further assistance on native seed establishment, please schedule a free consolation call here.
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