Wildflower (forb) · Asteraceae
Appalachian blazing star
Liatris squarrulosa
Appalachian blazing star is recorded as native to 11 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 158 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Appalachian blazing star at a glance
- Native in
- 158 counties, across 11 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 7a PLANTS minimum temperature −3°F
- Mature height
- 2.5 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Sun to part shade Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 7a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −3°F; zone 7a winters bottom out at 0°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Appalachian blazing star is recorded as native to 11 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 158 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 158 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 10 counties
- Georgia 5 counties
- Illinois 15 counties
- Indiana 1 county
- Kentucky 18 counties
- Louisiana 27 counties
- Mississippi 20 counties
- Missouri 5 counties
- North Carolina 4 counties
- South Carolina 17 counties
- Tennessee 36 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 2.5 ft
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Growth form
- Bunch
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Summer and Fall
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intermediate (sun to part shade)
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Medium
- Precipitation range
- 35 to 60 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium and fine
- pH range
- 5.4 to 7.5
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Low
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 14 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −3°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 7a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 180
- Fire tolerance
- High
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Purple
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Late Summer
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- No Known Source
- Family
- Asteraceae
- PLANTS symbol
- LISQ2
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Liatris squarrulosa (PLANTS symbol LISQ2).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources