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Liatris pilosa

(Ait.) Willd.

Grass-leaf Gayfeather

G5Secure (G5?) Found in 5 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
UnknownThreat Impact
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.1310794
Element CodePDAST5X1V0
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVascular Plant
Endemicendemic to a single nation
KingdomPlantae
PhylumAnthophyta
ClassDicotyledoneae
OrderAsterales
FamilyAsteraceae
GenusLiatris
Concept Reference
Flora of North America Editorial Committee (FNA). 2006c. Flora of North America north of Mexico. Vol. 21. Magnoliophyta: Asteridae, part 8: Asteraceae, part 3. Oxford Univ. Press, New York. xxii + 616 pp.
Taxonomic Comments
This record is for the narrow treatment of Liatris pilosa, excluding L. elegantula as a distinct species, as recognized in FNA (2006, vol. 21) and Weakley et al. (2023). The treatment in Kartesz (1999) included L. elegantula as a variety of L. pilosa.
Conservation Status
Rank Method Rank calculation - Biotics v2
Review Date2025-10-17
Change Date2025-10-17
Edition Date2025-10-17
Edition AuthorsSoteropoulos (2025)
Threat ImpactUnknown
Range Extent200,000-2,500,000 square km (about 80,000-1,000,000 square miles)
Number of Occurrences81 to >300
Rank Reasons
Liatris pilosa is a wide-ranging perennial herb found in a variety of forests, woodlands, open and disturbed habitats. It is endemic to the southeastern United States where it occurs from southern New Jersey, Delaware, southeastern Pennsylvania, and West Virginia south to South Carolina. There are likely over 300 estimated occurrences, which potentially face threats from development, rights-of-way maintenance, logging, invasive species, and other threats in some places. Little is known about trends, but with a large range extent and large number of occurrences, abundant habitat, and broad habitat preferences, this species is considered secure.
Range Extent Comments
Liatris pilosa is endemic to the southeastern United States where it occurs from southern New Jersey, Delaware, southeastern Pennsylvania, and West Virginia and south to South Carolina (FNA 2006, Weakley and the Southeastern Flora Team 2023). Range extent was estimated to be over 380,000 square kilometers using herbarium specimens, photo-based observations, and NatureServe Network occurrence data documented between 1994 and 2025 (GBIF 2025, iNaturalist 2025, NatureServe 2025, RARECAT 2025, SEINet 2025).
Occurrences Comments
By applying a 1 km separation distance to herbarium specimens, photo-based observations, and NatureServe Network occurrence data documented between 1994 and 2025, it is estimated that there are over 250 occurrences rangewide (GBIF 2025, iNaturalist 2025, NatureServe 2025, RARECAT 2025, SEINet 2025). Due to different treatments of this entity, herbarium records and photo-based observations may underrepresent true abundance, and anecdotal comments support the likelihood that there are over 300 occurrences rangewide.
Threat Impact Comments
Although threats are not widely documented, this species is potentially threatened by development, rights-of-way maintenance, logging, invasive species, and other threats in some places. However, their overall impact is likely negligible given the species' broad range, large number of occurrences, and no obvious intrinsic vulnerabilities.
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Liatris pilosa grows in pine barrens, longleaf pine or scrub oak-pine sandhills, openings in pine, oak, and oak-hickory woods, other xeric forests and woodlands, sandy fields, old fields, roadbanks, dune hollows, wet sand near beaches, and edges of tidal marshes, in sand to sandy clay-loam (FNA 2006, Weakley and the Southeastern Flora Team 2023).
Terrestrial Habitats
Forest/WoodlandForest - ConiferWoodland - HardwoodWoodland - ConiferSavannaGrassland/herbaceousOld fieldBarrens
Other Nations (1)
United StatesN5
ProvinceRankNative
DelawareS1Yes
District of ColumbiaSNRYes
VirginiaSNRYes
TennesseeS1Yes
PennsylvaniaS1Yes
North CarolinaS5Yes
MarylandSNRYes
New JerseySNRYes
West VirginiaSUYes
South CarolinaSNRYes
Threat Assessments
ThreatScopeSeverityTiming
Unknown/undetermined———

—

Plant Characteristics
DurationPERENNIAL
Economic Value (Genus)No
Roadless Areas (5)
North Carolina (1)
AreaForestAcres
Catfish Lake NorthCroatan National Forest11,299
Virginia (4)
AreaForestAcres
Patterson MountainJefferson National Forest4,865
Price MountainJefferson National Forest9,119
Ramseys Draft AdditionGeorge Washington National Forest12,781
Three SistersGeorge Washington National Forest8,149
References (8)
  1. Flora of North America Editorial Committee (FNA). 2006c. Flora of North America north of Mexico. Vol. 21. Magnoliophyta: Asteridae, part 8: Asteraceae, part 3. Oxford Univ. Press, New York. xxii + 616 pp.
  2. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). 2025. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) data portal. Online. Available: https://www.gbif.org/ (accessed 2025).
  3. iNaturalist. 2025. Online. Available: https://www.inaturalist.org (accessed 2025).
  4. Kartesz, J.T. 1999. A synonymized checklist and atlas with biological attributes for the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. First edition. In: Kartesz, J.T., and C.A. Meacham. Synthesis of the North American Flora, Version 1.0. North Carolina Botanical Garden, Chapel Hill, N.C.
  5. NatureServe. 2025. NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia.
  6. <p>NatureServe's Rapid Analysis of Rarity and Endangerment Conservation Assessment Tool (RARECAT). 2025. Version: 2.1.1 (released April 04, 2025).</p>
  7. Southwest Environmental Information Network (SEINet). 2025. Collections Databases. Online. Available: https://swbiodiversity.org/seinet/collections/index.php (accessed 2025).
  8. Weakley, A.S., and Southeastern Flora Team. 2023. Flora of the southeastern United States. Edition of April 14, 2023. University of North Carolina Herbarium (NCU), North Carolina Botanical Garden, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. 2105 pp.