Spikes aren’t always spiky
Yesterday’s picture of a colony of Liatris mucronata shows that most plants of this species produce long and relatively slender spikes of flowers. In some cases, though, they develop bulges, as you see here. I don’t know what causes portions of some blazing-star spikes to deviate from their usual slenderness.
Like the previous photograph, today’s comes from east of Interstate 35 in the town of Buda on October 8th.
© 2014 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers 
Maybe they’re reaching for pollinators or luring them. Or maybe they have eaten too much, and need a bit of exercise.
lensandpensbysally
October 30, 2014 at 7:25 AM
Definitely the second of those two, Sally: why didn’t I think of that?
Steve Schwartzman
October 30, 2014 at 7:36 AM
I thought that you’d appreciate my strange sense of humor this autumn morning.
lensandpensbysally
October 30, 2014 at 7:49 AM
This morning or any other: go for it.
Steve Schwartzman
October 30, 2014 at 8:05 AM
Perhaps it rained a bit more the week it reached that height?
georgettesullins
October 30, 2014 at 8:56 AM
My inclination is to say no, Georgette, because other spikes nearby didn’t show bulges like this, and they would have gotten the same rain.
Steve Schwartzman
October 30, 2014 at 9:25 AM
It was definitely that extra slice of pizza….
melissabluefineart
October 30, 2014 at 9:57 AM
You’ve got it!
Steve Schwartzman
October 30, 2014 at 10:02 AM
I think your Liatris is trying to branch out into something new…..tired of always doing the same old thing and running with the crowd.
Steve Gingold
October 30, 2014 at 2:30 PM
I guess that makes it a rebel with a cause.
Steve Schwartzman
October 30, 2014 at 2:36 PM
What does fasciation look like when it begins? It would be fascinating if failed fasciation factored into its unusual figure.
shoreacres
October 30, 2014 at 8:16 PM
You raise an interesting question. I don’t know what fasciation looks like when it begins, nor whether normal growth can resume in a structure after fasciation has started. My intuition in the case of this Liatris is that fasciation isn’t involved, and for two reasons: 1) I noticed nothing flattened here. 2) Bulges of this sort in Liatris spikes aren’t all that unusual, and in my experience they occur far more frequently than fasciation.
Steve Schwartzman
October 30, 2014 at 10:57 PM
What a gorgeous, intense burst of color!
montucky
October 31, 2014 at 8:24 PM
All the more so now that your wildflowers are hibernating.
Steve Schwartzman
October 31, 2014 at 8:36 PM