Snakeroot

Snakeroot (Liatris) - N. American perennials of some beauty, having the flower-heads arranged in long dense spikes. Some are effective border flowers when well grown, and well repay good cultivation. L. elegans grows about 2 feet high, and has pale purple spikes I foot or more in length. L. pyonostachya, 4 to 6 feet high, has deep purple flower-spikes from August to October. L. spicata is one of the handsomest and neatest, growing 3 feet high, and its violet-purple spikes continue long in beauty. L. scariosa, squarrosa, cylindracea, elegans, and pumila much resemble the foregoing, and, like them, succeed in any rich light soil, and are best here and there in among peat-loving shrubs or in good borders. Propagated by division in spring or by seed.