July 2021
Liatris, in the Aster family of plants, is commonly called Gayfeather or Blazingstar. It’s known for its showy flowerheads or spikes. Check out this eyecandy..
This is Liatris gholsonii, Gholson's Gayfeather, endemic to an extremely small area near the Apalachicola River in the eastern Florida Panhandle. But it spreads easily if one happens to be walking among them in the winter and brushes thru some and picks up a few seeds that then somehow drop off in someone's woodsy yard.....
Ok, here are more galls that developed in the last month. Over past years I might see a few plants with these galls forming right as the flowering stem begins to reach up high.
This year, I'm seeing 50-80% of plants attacked. I can say 80% because one of these fine perennials has a primary stem with 4 secondary spikes arising from near the base. Those 4 have galls. Guess the insect, fly or wasp I do not know, got tired or ran out of eggs.
Related stuff I found on the web; info and photos on plant galls and here with Ohio Liatris. And this more southeast blogger has a detailed review. And at the Alabama Plant Atlas, A. Diamond has a multitude of technical and textual info for most plants.
What I have seen from damage to Liatris, the 5 species growing at my place, is that they recover slowy by sending up multiple stems around the gall. Sometimes...
I'll be watching these closely.
And after the next generation goes off - the multiplying effect is obvious as dozens of Liatris now have galls. Once it has started to flower, top-down for this genus — the individual flowerheads are attacked. Here’s a gholsonii from Aug 28, 2020.
I think Liatris spicata and elegans may also het hit. I’ll be watching closely this year as the insects spread from the sideyard and up the hill to the front meadow. And here is what may be the culprit...
Mid-70s this morning, way humid; rain expected. This insect going after the Liatris is not a big deal. That’s nature right? Shellfish in the PNW getting boiled in their shells ain’t. Wish I still had the article from 20 years ago about the Top Ten Tipping Points for climate change because it seems we have hit them all. My grandkids are going to have a miserable existence...
Thanks for stopping by and see ya in the comments with your nature observations.