Plants 30-55 cm. Corms globose to subglobose. Stems strigoso-puberulent. Leaves: basal and proximal cauline 1(-3)-nerved, linear-lanceolate to linear-oblanceolate, 120-250 × 2-3(-5) mm, abruptly reduced on distal ¹/2-²/3 of stems, sparsely pilose (abaxial faces), gland-dotted. Heads in loose, spiciform arrays (internodes 1-15 mm). Peduncles 0 or 1-5 mm. Involucres cylindro-campanulate, 10-13 × 5-6(-7) mm. Phyllaries in 3-4(-5) series, outermost narrowly triangular, unequal, sparsely fine-pilose to glabrate, margins without hyaline borders, ciliate, apices (loosely divergent) acute to acuminate (innermost sometimes obtuse and short-acuminate). Florets 10-12; corolla tubes glabrous inside. Cypselae 4.2-4.5 mm; pappi: lengths equaling corollas, bristles barbellate or proximally plumose. Flowering (Jun-)Jul-Sep. Longleaf pine savannas, pine-hardwood edges, slopes, flats, uplands, near drainages, sands, sandy clays, fencerows, roadsides; 50-100 m; La., Tex. Liatris tenuis is in the Center for Plant Conservation´s National Collection of Endangered Plants.