Heller's Blazing Star (
Liatris helleri) growing against the backdrop of Grandfather Mountain. This picture shows the grass-like foliage of the plant. It was a very windy day when I visited and I found it rather amazing that the bees were able to maneuver from flower to flower despite the wind. The
Liatris plants were popular with the pollinators, and so were the tiny flowers of the
Southern Harebells growing nearby (one plant can be seen on the left in the background). The winds are said to go from the gorge upwards at the Blowing Rock, hence giving it its name and making it "the only place in the world where snow falls upside down."
Liatris helleri is endemic to North Carolina and federally protected as a threatened species. Its only known populations are located on cliffs and mountain tops in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. There is a bit of a controversy over this as a paper from 2005 suggested to expand the species circumscription to include populations previously identified as
Liatris turgida from Virginia and West Virginia, which would make it less rare. It has not yet been confirmed whether the two are separate or the same species.
Liatris helleri is on the endangered species list, while
Liatris turgida is not.
