This slender perennial is native to the longleaf pine sandhills, sandy stream margins, and xeric woodlands of the eastern United States, where it has evolved for heat, drought, and lean soil. Stems reach 1 to 3 feet tall, green with fine ridges, and carry leaves that diminish in size as they ascend the stem. The flower heads appear on a terminal spike in late summer into fall, each head holding 7 to 10 small tubular pink-purple florets with rounded petal tips that attract long-tongued bees and a range of butterfly species.

Taxonomy around this species is somewhat tangled — plants sold as L. pilosa may actually be L. elegantula — but the garden performance is similar regardless. Give it full sun and well-drained, dry or sandy soil, and it will thrive with minimal attention. Wet soil and shade are the two conditions it genuinely dislikes. It works well as a cut flower, and the slender upright form provides useful vertical contrast in naturalized plantings or pollinator gardens.