As far as I am concerned, you can’t find a prettier wildflower than Liatris punctata, which some call gayfeather and others call blazing star.  We have a few of them on some thin soil where not much else besides cactus will grow.

Liatris grows on the prairies from Canada to Mexico, mostly on shallow soils where it produces a taproot that some say can go down to a depth of 15 feet. It spreads from seed and also from division of the bulb or corm.  I’ve read that Indians would eat the bulbs.