8b. var. hirsuta (Rydb.) Gaiser

L. hirsuta Rydb.

Stems and leaves pubescent with relatively long, straight, spreading hairs. All but the outermost involucral bracts relatively short-tapered to an abruptly spreading or reflexed tip, mostly hairy on the surface and margins, the outer series usually only somewhat longer than the others. July–September.

Scattered nearly throughout the state but absent from most of the western half of the Glaciated Plains Division and the Mississippi Lowlands (Nebraska to Texas east to North Carolina and Georgia). Glades, ledges and tops of bluffs, openings of dry upland forests, savannas, and upland prairies; also pastures, fencerows, railroads, and roadsides.

This is by far the commonest variety of L. squarrosa in the state.