[Lacinaria scariosa f. gracillima Lunell, moreLacinaria scariosa f. versicolor Lunell, Lacinaria scariosa var. angustata Lunell, Lacinaria scariosa var. annuens Lunell, Lacinaria scariosa var. basilaris Lunell, Lacinaria scariosa var. brachiata Lunell, Lacinaria scariosa var. chandonnetii Lunell, Lacinaria scariosa var. composita Lunell, Lacinaria scariosa var. exuberans Lunell, Lacinaria scariosa var. immanis Lunell, Lacinaria scariosa var. inconcinna Lunell, Lacinaria scariosa var. insolens Lunell, Lacinaria scariosa var. multiplex Lunell, Lacinaria scariosa var. nictitans Lunell, Lacinaria scariosa var. obesa Lunell, Lacinaria scariosa var. opima Lunell, Lacinaria scariosa var. petiolata Lunell, Lacinaria scariosa var. porrecta Lunell, Lacinaria scariosa var. praecellens Lunell, Lacinaria scariosa var. praeceps Lunell, Lacinaria scariosa var. ramea Lunell, Lacinaria scariosa var. scalaris Lunell, Lacinaria scariosa var. singularis Lunell, Lacinaria scariosa var. strictissima Lunell, Lacinaria scariosa var. subcorymbosa Lunell, Lacinaria scariosa var. supereminens Lunell, Lacinaria scariosa var. superscandens Lunell, Lacinaria scariosa var. uniflora Lunell]
Plants 30-150 cm. Corms sub-globose. Stems puberulent (at least distally, sometimes glabrous proximally). Leaves: basal and proximal cauline 1-nerved, elliptic- to oblanceolate-spatulate, 120-300 × 25-50(-55) mm, abruptly, gradually, or little reduced distally, essentially glabrous, weakly, if at all, gland-dotted. Heads in racemiform arrays. Peduncles usually (ascending) 10-50 mm. Involucres campanulate to turbinate-campanulate, 11-15 × (12-)15-22(-25) mm. Phyllaries in (3-)4-5 series, (erect or outer sometimes spreading-reflexing) oblong-obovate to broadly obovate (not bullate), unequal, glabrous or minutely puberulent, margins usually with relatively narrow, hyaline borders, apices broadly rounded. Florets 19-80; corolla tubes usually pilose inside, sometimes glabrous (Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri). Cypselae 4.5-6(-6.5) mm; pappi: lengths ± equaling corollas, bristles barbellate.
Glabrous or hairy, 3-8(-10) dm; lowermost lvs mostly 10-35 cm, long-petiolate, with elliptic to linear-elliptic or broadly oblanceolate blade; heads seldom more than 20(-35), subsessile or more often ascending on arcuate or sometimes spreading peduncles to 5 cm; invol ±hemispheric, 9-17 mm, its bracts appressed to more often loose or sometimes distally squarrose, broadly rounded, often anthocyanic distally, the middle ones only narrowly or not at all scarious-margined, often ciliolate but not erose-lacerate, the innermost ones sometimes more obviously scarious and erose; fls (21-)25-80 per head; cor-tube ±hairy toward the base (or near the middle) within; pappus strongly barbellate; 2n=20. Prairies, open woods, and other dry, open places; Me. to Mich., s. to Pa., Mo., Ark., and in the mts. to n. Ga. Aug., Sept. Three vars.
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.