Punctata: Answers to key questions in Budd's Flora and Flora of Alberta leading to this species. 

	lower leaves 2-4 mm wide; NOT [lower leaves 10-20 mm wide]
	flower heads with 4-6 florets; NOT [flower heads with more than 15 florets]
	heads cylindrical; NOT [heads subglobose]
	heads narrower than 1-3 cm wide
	pappus bristles plumose; NOT [pappus bristles barbellate]

Liatris: Answers to key questions in Budd's Flora and Flora of Alberta leading to this genus. 

	juice watery; NOT [juice milky]
	leaves NOT whorled
	leaves linear to oblanceolate; NOT [leaves triangular to ovate]
	flowers in elongated racemes or spikes; NOT [flowers in terminal, more or less flat-topped clusters or solitary]
	bracts of involucre NOT [dry or parchmenty]
	bracts of involucre usually green
	involucral bracts NOT spiny-tipped and WITHOUT hooked bristles
	receptacle naked; NOT [receptacle densely bristly]
	flower heads with all florets tubular
	flowers all perfect; NOT [flowers of some heads all pistillate or the outer flowers pistillate]
	florets pink to purple; NOT [florets whitish to cream, yellow, greenish yellow, or orange]
	stamens united to form a tube around the pistil
	pappus present, distinct; NOT [pappus none or inconspicuous]
	pappus of capillary bristles or hairs, sometimes plumose; NOT [pappus of scales, or of awns, or a crown]
	pappus hairs much longer than achene