Liatris spicata

Preferred common name button snakewort
Family Asteraceae


Liatris are herbaceous perennials with narrow, grass-like foliage and erect, bottlebrush-like spikes of flowers which open from the top down


L. spicata is a perennial to 70cm in height, with narrow foliage and purplish-pink flower spikes in late summer and early autumn

Other common names
dense blazing star
Kansas gay feather
Synonym(s)
Liatris calilepis
Liatris callilipes
http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?pl...

Supported.

The RHS gives "button snakewort" as the preferred common name and gives a number of other common names. From a UK perspective, the common names are irrelevant, however, since the plant is sold and grown here as "Liatris spicata".

Aber der wissenschaftliche Name Liatris spicata sollte, wie bei den anderen Einträgen für Organismenarten, wohl nicht auf der englischen Seite erscheinen. Oder doch?

Hi Wachtelkönig. wie bei den anderen Einträgen für Organismenarten - that doesn't appear to have been applied consistently. See e.g. (chosen at random) Siehe Wörterbuch: heuchera

Nor do I see why Liatris spicata shouldn't be entered on the English side if that is how it is known by BE speakers. Put "Brit." after it by all means if it is better known by one of its common names in other parts of the English-speaking world (and I suspect that is the case in N. America where the plant is a native), but don't simply leave it off the English side. If a German friend told me she had just been to the garden centre and bought a "button snakewort", having looked up Prachtscharte in Leo, I wouldn't have a clue what plant she had bought. I think it's fair to say btw that the majority of non-native garden plants are known in the UK by their botanical name rather than by a so-called "common" name.

Agree with Anne(gb)
I have Liatris in my garden but also wouldn't have had a clue what "button snakewort" was, although I might just have recognised "Gayfeather".
http://www.gardenersworld.com/plant-detail/PL...

I was referring to SPECIES names. Of course scientific GENUS names of plants often coincide with common names, apparently much more often in English compared to German.

In Kanada (Montreal) war in allen GartenCentern nur von "Liatris" zu lesen. Auch meine passionierte Gärtnersnachbarin benutzte nie ein anderes Wort. "Liatris" ohne "spicata" ist ein common name.
http://www.wildaboutgardening.org/en/gardenin...

Liatris spicata (L.) Willd.
Dense blazing star, Dense gayfeather, Marsh blazing star
Asteraceae (Aster Family)
http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?i...
(Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Austin, TX)

I've at least heard of liatris (pronounced 'lie AT-triss'), though I grew up thinking it was spelled *liatrice. My mother says they used to go out and pick it in the wild and use it in dried flower arrangements. She and her mother just called it liatris (but not spicata), though she says she's also heard it called gayfeather (but not dense).

I've heard the name blazing star, but not in relation to this plant that I can remember; I would have guessed it was something red or yellow.

Neither of us has ever heard of a plant in this part of the world called snakewort, much less button snakewort. It sounded sort of British, or maybe Harry Potterish -- but if Anne and Marianne don't know it either, evidently not.

People who aren't hobbyist or professional gardeners don't typically know or care about species names when the genus name is the one that's familiar. I would suggest starting with basic entries as above, with a more general word in German if there is one.

That is, does Prachtscharte mean any kind of liatris, and is 'ährige Prachtscharte' actually liatris spicata, or what? Are there any other names in German?

If you want to add other individual liatris species after that, you could (there are several at the link above), but to me the general name is more useful.

http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_...
410. Liatris Gaertner ex Schreber, Gen. Pl. 2: 542. 1791.
Gayfeather, blazing star [Derivation unknown]

http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_...
14. Liatris spicata (Linnaeus) Willdenow, Sp. Pl. 3: 1636. 1803.
Florist or marsh gayfeather

Oh, how I wish I didn't have to deal with this species or this genus.

Yes, it's beautiful. There are 37 species of the genus Liatris, all generally known as gayfeather (one word) or blazing star. They are native to US, Canada, Mexico, & the Bahamas. Not one of them has escaped garden cultivation in Germany, Austria, or Switzerland. One or two species are questionably naturalized in UK, France, & Azerbaijan.

The scientific names of these 37 species, & their specific German names, are:
1. Liatris acidota = die Prachtscharte
[...]
37. Liatris virgata = die Prachtscharte

That is partly why I avoided dealing with any of these species as I have worked my way alphabetically through the family, I did not want to have to deal with distinguishing die Prachtscharte (#1) from die Prachtscharten (#2 through 37).

Yes, all the English common names for this species found by people on this thread are valid, including "button snakewort" (but that one is very rare). Given just a few minutes, I could undoubtedly provide good source citations for at least a half-dozen more English common names. Many of the English common names are "common" to just one or two states or provinces in the US & Canada.

Yes, the British very frequently use the scientific name in preference to making up some English translation of the Latin. I think it is great. They have a long tradition of importing exotic plants from their Empire to botanic gardens, then to backyard greenhouses and cottage gardens. But their native flora has suffered for it when the foreign exotics escape cultivation and out-compete the natives for space and resources.

Nevertheless, since this species seems to be so well-known in Europe, I am going to propose a conservative approach and suggest using the first common name given in the Flora of North America citation - "florist's gayfeather."

Pictures / Bilder - very beautiful.

My father-in-law has this growing in his garden. I had no idea it's native to North America. We call it liatris (no spicata). I've heard gayfeather and blazing star, though I can't say I know what plant they refer to. As a lay gardener, I've never encountered florist's gayfeather, though I don't claim that it isn't used.

So far, Marianne, Anne, Birgila, Amy, and I all seem to agree that the most common name is simply liatris. None of us seem to have even heard of florist's gayfeather, though some of us have heard of gayfeather and one or two of blazing star.

It isn't necessarily a good idea to list a supposedly common name that comes from one reference source but that few real people have even heard of and that several other reputable websites don't seem to mention. If you list all the more common names first, then of course you could also include some more obscure ones, but the consensus seems pretty clear that just liatris should be a higher priority.

Die Prachtscharten (Liatris) sind eine Pflanzengattung in der Familie der Korbblütler (Asteraceae). Der botanische Gattungsname ist von den griechischen Wörtern leios für glatt und iatrós für Arzt hergeleitet; worauf sich das bezieht ist jedoch unklar. Es gibt etwa 16 bis 50 Arten.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prachtscharten

Maybe like this:

liatris [bot.] --- die Prachtscharte, wiss.: Liatris (Gattung)

http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/liatris
liatris
Pronunciation: /lʌɪˈatrɪs/
noun (plural same)
a plant of a genus which includes the blazing stars of the daisy family.
• Genus Liatris, family Compositae

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/liatris
li•a•tris
[lahy-a-tris, lahy-uh-]
–noun
any of various composite plants of the genus Liatris, native to North America, having long spikes of purplish flowers.
Origin:
< Neo-Latin (1791), of unexplained orig.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2011.
[…]
World English Dictionary
liatris (laɪˈætrɪs)
— n
See blazing star
[C18: New Latin, of uncertain origin]
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition 2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009

http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/blaz...
blazing star
noun
any of a number of North American plants, some of which are cultivated for their flowers, in particular:.
• a plant of the daisy family with tall spikes of purple or white flowers (genus Liatris, family Compositae)

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/blazin...
blazing star
–noun
1. any of certain plants with showy flower clusters, as Chamaelirium luteum, of the lily family, or the composite plant Liatris spicata.
[…]
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2011.
[…]
World English Dictionary
blazing star
— n
[…]
2. any plant of the North American genus Liatris, having clusters of small red or purple flowers: family Asteraceae (composites)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition 2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/gayfeather
gay-feath•er
[gey-feth-er]
–noun
any of several composite plants of the genus Liatris, especially L. spicata or L. scariosa, having hairy leaves and long clusters of purplish flowers.
Origin:
1810–20, Americanism
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2011.

http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_...
410. Liatris Gaertner ex Schreber, Gen. Pl. 2: 542. 1791.
Gayfeather, blazing star [Derivation unknown]

Support for Wachtelkönig's practical solution of substituting a generic proposal for a specific one, provided that both "blazing star" and "gayfeather" are also listed for the genus.

See also all the common names listed at http://plants.usda.gov/java/nameSearch?keywor... and at http://www.wildflower.org/plants/search.php?s...