Tennessee › Asteraceae

Grass Leaf Gayfeather

Liatris pilosa

Also known as

Grass Leaf Blazing Star; Shaggy Blazingstar; Shaggy Gayfeather

Listed in Tennessee’s rare-plant reference. Use nursery-propagated plants; conservation status is separate from this ecological score.

Good

Tennessee · provisional Quercus Score

Calculated with the same rules as North Carolina, using Tennessee host-range and conservation-rank inputs. Native-status evidence is shown separately.

Tennessee scoring method and limits

Insect resources, birds and habitat

Caterpillars	4 recorded species on the genus Host genera of native Lepidoptera recorded in Tennessee; host association and range overlap, not confirmed local feeding.
Bees	46 recorded species on the genus Southeastern North America
Specialist bees	8 recorded species on the genus Eastern North America
Birds	0 recorded species on the genus North America
Structure	Forb/herb

Baseline 56; additional insect credit +0. Rarity adjustment -10 using the NC rule (unranked: −5; final score floor: 5). Missing records do not establish zero ecological use.

Native to Tennessee (state-specific source). Tennessee yard-fit calculations are not available yet.

Recorded in your county?

Tennessee county

Choose a county to check the available records.

County occurrence is not proof of native range or yard suitability. A missing record does not establish absence.

Tennessee status	Native to Tennessee (state-specific source)
Source conservation rank	S1
Recorded in Tennessee	3 counties in the atlas snapshot

Growing conditions

No reviewed growing-condition notes are attached yet.

Native-status evidence

Combined TN–KY atlas flag: Y. A regional flag alone does not settle Tennessee native status.

Combined-source assessment

Native to Tennessee (state-specific source)

A TN-specific UT native-guide page or an exact entry in the Tennessee rare-plant list supports a direct source claim. Otherwise, TN occurrence plus an atlas native flag and exact-name native evidence from NC flora or USDA L48 supports a provisional state inference. No one regional claim or occurrence alone establishes TN nativity; NC and L48 claims retain their actual scopes.

Tennessee Natural Heritage rare-plant list (2025): native (TN). Liatris pilosa Shaggy Blazing Star Liatris virgata Wand Blazing Star Lilium grayi Gray's Lily Lilium philadelphicum Wood Lily Liparis loeselii Fen Orchis Lithospermum bejariense Western False Gromwell

NC vascular flora: native (NC).

USDA PLANTS: native (L48). L48:N

TN–KY Plant Atlas: native (TN–KY).

Sources

Machine-readable: plant evidence.

Quercus Score v0.6.4 · built 2026-09-26 · Tennessee beta · sources and limitations on every page