Description

Key Information:

Soil: Mesic (Medium) – Xeric (Dry). Drought tolerant.
Sun: Full Sun – Part Sun
Height: 2-3 feet
Color: Purple
Bloom: August – September
*Salt tolerant*

More Details:

Suggested Uses: A native of upland prairies, Button Blazing Star has a spike of rosy purple, clustered flowers, that resemble buttons on a stem!  It is a great perennial for wildflower gardens and restoration projects. The flower nectar of these plants are very attractive to butterflies. Birds, especially the Goldfinch, find the seeds equally delicious. This flower makes an excellent cut flower for bouquets. Deer resistant.

Native Range: Native to the Midwest and parts of the South and southern Appalachia. Native throughout the state of Minnesota except the Northeast corner.

Pollinators: Bees, butterflies and moths. An excellent pollinator plant. It is a very important nectar source for adult monarchs and many other species of butterflies as well as the federally endangered Rusty Patched Bumble Bee (Bombus affinis).  A great plant for attracting birds to your garden too.

Flowers: The flower heads are about 3/4″ wide, made up of a cluster of 25-40 disk flowers. The heads appear in rounded buttons along the stiff hairy stem. They bloom from top to bottom.

Leaves: The leaves are rough, lance-shaped to linear, and range in size from 4″-12″ at the base to less than 1″ near the top.

Interesting Facts:

Medicinal Uses: Tea from the leaves has been used to treat snakebites and upset stomachs.
Food Uses: The corms (roots) are edible.
Other Names: Rough Blazing Star

More information: USDA plant profile