Native Lands Restoration Collaborative interns are digging deep to learn more about native plants and share their experiences with our community! Our Seeds of Change intern, Eliza, has been studying native seeds, how to identify, collect, clean and grow them with our experienced staff. She'll be sharing her favorite species with all of you here, on the Nature Gang blog! Today's species is Scaly Blazing Star:
Scaly Blazing Star (Liatris squarrosa var. hirsuta) is an amazing native prairie plant and the insects of the prairie agree. They are a 2 foot tall perennial plant with curvy, grass-like leaves and stringy purple flowers, blooming in late summer and early fall. They are a pollinator favorite, inviting bees, moths, butterflies, wasps, and beetles to their nectar rich flowers. Indigenous Peoples grind the roots to remedy many things including headaches, arthritis, earaches, and fevers.
Scaly Blazing Star seeds are very easy to collect on a still day; the fluffy seeds will blow away with the wind. To collect the seeds, simply pull the fluff to remove the dry seed from the spent flower and you’re done!
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