Wildflowers, Grasses and Other Nonwoody Plants
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Species Types
Scientific Name
Vernonia baldwinii
Description
Ironweeds are tough, grayish-green, branching plants known for their fluffy-looking clusters of reddish-purple florets. They are a familiar sight on roadsides and pastures. Identify western ironweed by the bracts at the base of the flowerheads.
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Species Types
Scientific Name
Liatris aspera
Description
Rough blazing star is fairly common and scattered nearly statewide. To distinguish between Missouri’s nine species in the genus Liatris, start by noting details of the flower structure. It’s not hard when you know what to look for.
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Species Types
Scientific Name
Liatris pycnostachya
Description
Prairie blazing star has an unbranched stalk with many densely crowded, rose-purple flowerheads. It is a signature wildflower of the tallgrass prairie.
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Species Types
Scientific Name
Gentiana andrewsii
Description
Closed gentian, or bottle gentian, never opens — it stays closed and budlike throughout the pollination process. How is it pollinated? Bumblebees push their way into the flowers!
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Species Types
Scientific Name
Symphyotrichum spp. (formerly Aster spp.)
Description
Missouri has 24 species of New World asters in genus Symphyotrichum. Most have purple or white ray flowers and yellow disk flowers that turn reddish over time. Most bloom in late summer and fall.
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Species Types
Scientific Name
Gentiana puberulenta
Description
Downy gentian, or prairie gentian, is a beautifully blue or violet-blue wildflower with opposite leaves that blooms September through November in native grasslands.
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Species Types
Scientific Name
Vernonia missurica
Description
Missouri ironweed is one of Missouri’s five species of ironweeds. Most common in the eastern half of the state, it is a hairy ironweed with a relatively large number of florets per flowerhead.
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Species Types
Scientific Name
Liatris spp.
Description
Missouri boasts nine native species of blazing stars, or gayfeathers, in genus Liatris. These showy, upright, unbranching spikes of magenta-pink wildflowers bloom in sunny habitats.
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Species Types
Scientific Name
Liatris cylindracea
Description
Cylindrical blazing star is one of several Missouri native species of blazing stars, or gayfeathers. It is widely scattered in the Ozarks and eastern Missouri. Identify it by its bracts, which are pressed against the base of the flowerhead, accentuating its cylindrical look.
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Species Types
Scientific Name
Liatris squarrosa (syn. L. hirsuta, in part)
Description
Scaly blazing star is one of several Missouri native species of blazing stars, or gayfeathers. It is scattered nearly statewide. Identify it by its long-pointed flowerhead bracts that spread or curl sharply away.
See Also
About Wildflowers, Grasses and Other Nonwoody Plants in Missouri
A very simple way of thinking about the green world is to divide the vascular plants into two groups: woody and nonwoody (or herbaceous). But this is an artificial division; many plant families include some species that are woody and some that are not. The diversity of nonwoody vascular plants is staggering! Think of all the ferns, grasses, sedges, lilies, peas, sunflowers, nightshades, milkweeds, mustards, mints, and mallows — weeds and wildflowers — and many more!