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What do "small," "medium" and "large" numbers mean?
They refer to how many insects were collected per meter square in a 30 second sample. Small means less than 2 insects; medium indicates 2 to 10 insects, and large suggests greater than 10 insects. |
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Enhancing Beneficial Insects with Native Plants
Rough blazing star
Liatris aspera Michx. |
Group: Dicot
Family: Asteraceae
(aster)
Growth Habit: Forb/herb
Duration: Perennial
U.S. Nativity: Native, east of the Rocky Mountains, excluding much of New England
Natural Enemies Attracted: Small numbers of Chalcidoidea, Orius insidiosus, Coccinellidae,
Thomisidae, Salticidae, Cantharidae and Plagiognathus politus.
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Pests Attracted: Small numbers of lygus bugs, leaf beetles and leafhoppers. Bees attracted: High numbers (more than 5 bees per meter square in a 30 second sample) of bees including sweat bees and bumble bees. |
| Species Notes: Vivid purple flowers about 1 inch wide are borne along a stalk 2-4 ft tall. Plants have narrow, sandpapery basal leaves that grew to about 6 inches tall, and were well-established by their third year of growth. Plants bloomed in late August and early September. This species was the second least attractive to natural enemies in the late season, with similar numbers of natural enemies as in the grass control. |
| About the Plant Species Graph: Average number of beneficial insects collected at each plant species the week before, during, and after peak bloom, for plant species blooming from mid-August through early October (+ standard error). Rough blazing star (Liatris aspera) boxed in red. Bars for natural enemies are in green, bars for bees are in yellow. Bars for native plants are solid and nonnative plants are striped. The black line on the top graph shows the number of natural enemies in grass with no flowering plants (grass control). Plants are listed in order of peak bloom. |
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| Habitat: Includes full sun to partial sun, and dry to average soil moisture. Naturally occurring in dry sandy areas such as plains, clearings, or prairies. May be associated with oak or jack pine woodland. Cultivation and Management: This species is unpredictable and slow to grow from seed, but can be grown from plug material (flowers in second or third year).
Availability: Species is available as seed, plug or container grown material from various native plant nurseries. Michigan Native Plant Producers Association
For more information: USDA-NRCS PLANTS database |
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This fact sheet prepared by: Doug Landis, Anna Fiedler, Department of Entomology, Michigan State University. Please note: The information presented at this web site should be considered a guideline to be adapted for your situation. MSU makes no warranty about the use of the information presented here. Read disclaimer. |
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