Solidago & Euthamia · eastern North America

A universe
the size of a weed

A golden spray of a thousand tiny flowers, and leaves rough or smooth, atop tall stalks or slender stems. Some have rhizomes that will outlive you. Hundreds of other beasts make their living on this short king of the sunflower family.

On the surface are the things that eat it: at least 104 kinds of caterpillar, and forty-two pollen-specialist bees that rely on it.32 Inside it, another world: about a hundred organisms that make the plant build them a house, and then eat the house. And outside again, the wasps, beetles and woodpeckers that come knocking for whoever is inside.

59/ ~140goldenrod species
106gall forms
104caterpillars
5flowering shapes

The 59 goldenrods this guide follows (six are the related Euthamia), of about 140 Solidago worldwide.49

There are about 140 goldenrods, and almost all of them are North American.49 They are hard to tell apart, and they flower when the year is closing. The way to begin is with the silhouette of the whole flowering top, seen from six feet away, before any leaf.

Plume-likeClub- or wand-likeElm-branchedFlat-toppedFlowering from the leaf axils

The five shapes a goldenrod's flowering top takes. Every plant on this site is sorted into one of them, from the flora's own description of its arrays. How that was done, and which plant is which. Semple draws the same arrays in finer detail, eight kinds on a single plate: his goldenrod-morphology diagram.

The name

The name Solidago is Linnaeus's, from 1753. Flora of North America reads it as Latin solidus, whole, with the suffix -ago, resembling or becoming: “probably alluding to healing properties”.48 The name records what goldenrod was once believed to do: it was a wound herb, and one of its old English names is woundwort.

The root is also often given as the verb solidare, to make whole. That reading means the same thing and is the more common of the two, but it is not the one the flora prints.

single source

The Latin is not the only name that records what the plant was thought to do. In Anishinaabemowin the goldenrods are giizisomashkiki, sun medicine. The Ojibwe People's Dictionary gives giizis as sun, moon, a month, and mashkiki as medicine.55 Marisa Lee, who teaches the language and its plants on Aaniin Waabigwaniin: hello, flowers!, gives the name to the genus rather than to one species, and translates it that way herself.56

The name Euthamia belongs to the six flat-topped plants in this guide that are not Solidago. It is Nuttall's, from 1818, and is usually parsed as Greek eu, well, with a root meaning crowded: the heads are packed tight in a way no goldenrod's are.54 Flora of North America gives the genus no etymology at all, so this reading rests on a dictionary alone.

single source

What a goldenrod flower is

Each small yellow unit on a goldenrod is a head, which botanists call a capitulum. A head is ten to forty separate flowers sharing one base, a compressed bouquet that looks like a single flower. The ray florets sit around the rim, each with a single strap-shaped petal, and those straps are what look like petals from a distance. The disc florets sit in the middle. They are tubular and five-lobed, and each is a complete flower with its own stamens and style. The whole head is wrapped in the involucre, a cup of overlapping bracts called phyllaries.48

The arithmetic of heads explains how much a goldenrod offers. A plume of tall goldenrod carrying twelve hundred heads is carrying something on the order of twenty thousand flowers, at the end of a season when little else is offering any. That is the scale that supports forty-two pollen-specialist bees.32

The head also matters for the galls. Four of the forms in this guide are built in the flowering head rather than in stem, bud, leaf or rhizome. An insect can take a capitulum the same way it takes a bud, because a capitulum is structurally a bud: a shoot tip that has stopped extending.

aone headbranchevery head turns to theupper side: secundOne branch of the plumebinvolucre2.5–4.5 mmray floretdisc floretphyllarybracteolepeduncleOne head, from the sidecdisc floretray floretphyllary, cutreceptaclepappusovaryThe same head, cut lengthwisedstrap0.7–1.5 mmstyletubeovarystyleanther tubefive lobescorolla2.3–3.6 mmpappus2.5–3.5 mmovaryray floreta style, no stamensdisc floretstamens and a styleOne floret of each kind, enlarged
(a) One branch of a tall goldenrod plume. The heads all turn to the upper side of the branch, which arches over. (b) One head from the side. The involucre is a narrow bell of phyllaries laid on in about three rows, like shingles. (c) The same head cut lengthwise. Every floret stands on the receptacle, the rays at the rim and the discs in the middle. (d) One floret of each kind. Both sit on an ovary that ripens into the fruit, and both carry a pappus, the ring of bristles that stands where a calyx would. The ray floret has one strap and a style. The disc floret has five lobes, and its five anthers are joined in a tube around the style. Basis: proportions after Flora of North America’s measurements for tall goldenrod, Solidago altissima; floret structure after the flora’s descriptions of the genus and of the daisy family.4880 Schematic: a real head carries 8 to 13 rays and 3 to 6 discs, and fewer are drawn.

Semple's goldenrod-morphology diagram names every part of the head, and draws the flowering arrays besides.

Start six feet away

The field guides to goldenrod all begin the same way: with the shape of the whole flowering top, seen from six feet away, before any leaf. Peterson and McKenny sort the genus into five such shapes,52 and Newcomb opens on the same character.53 That one look narrows a plant to a handful of candidates before any closer character is needed.

The groups below are not taken from either guide. They are assigned from Flora of North America's own description of each species' arrays. The flora says whether the heads all face one side of their branch, which it calls secund. It says whether the array is flat-topped (corymbiform), a dense narrow spike (thyrsiform) or a branched spray (paniculiform), and whether the lower branches are long. Every placement here can therefore be checked against a published sentence, and the sentence is printed with each species.48

The five groups are a convenience for the field. The classification of the genus runs on subsections that partly cut across these shapes, set out in Semple's classification of the genus,49 and a few species sit between two groups. The flora describes Solidago uliginosa as narrow and secund or else non-secund and thyrsiform. In a single sentence it allows the plant both forms.48

Five ways to hold a flower

Each group holds the goldenrods that belong to it, the gall records they carry between them, and, under every plant, the sentence from Flora of North America that put it there. The sentence is printed because each assignment is only as good as the sentence behind it. If you disagree with a placement, you can see exactly what you are disagreeing with. Hover over a name to see the plant.

22 of the 58 plants the flora will place are plumes, and between them they carry 142 of the 213 host–gall records here, more than the other four groups put together.

Plume-like

A pyramidal spray, the branches arching outward and downward, every head turned to face the upper side of its branch.

22 species · 142 host–gall records

The plume is the shape most people picture. The technical word for the one-sided arrangement is secund, and it is the single most useful character in the genus. This group holds the plants the galls are on: tall, Canada, giant, rough-stemmed and early goldenrod between them carry the great majority of everything in this guide.

Club- or wand-like

One erect spike, tapering or club-shaped, with the heads set all the way round the axis rather than along one side.

16 species · 24 host–gall records

The heads are set all the way round the stem, which the flora calls non-secund, and that is the one character this group needs. If you can turn the stem and the flowers keep facing you, the plant belongs here. Showy, hairy and downy goldenrod are in this group.

  • 4Solidago uliginosa

    S. uliginosaNorthern Bog GoldenrodiNatFSUSFNA

    Semplesect. Maritimae

    Flora of North AmericaHeads 35–230 in elongate paniculiform arrays, sometimes narrow and secund pyramidal, usually narrowly to broadly, non-secund thyrsiform; branches strongly ascending with non-secund heads to arching with heads secund

    what lives on it4 galls · 3 caterpillars

    4 gall forms

    3 caterpillars recorded

    larva is feeding evidence; adult only may be nectaring, not feeding. Names link to their entry here; iNat opens the observations.

  • 3Solidago bicolor

    S. bicolorSilverrod, White GoldenrodiNatFSUSFNA

    Semplesubsect. Erectae

    Flora of North AmericaHeads 12–270 (1–15 per branch) in usually wand-shaped paniculiform arrays , of short axillary and terminal racemiform, non-secund clusters, sometimes proximal branches elongated, ascending and bearing short axillary and terminal racemiform clusters

    what lives on it3 galls · 1 caterpillar

    3 gall forms

    1 caterpillar recorded

    larva is feeding evidence; adult only may be nectaring, not feeding. Names link to their entry here; iNat opens the observations.

  • 2Solidago buckleyi

    S. buckleyiBuckley’s GoldenrodiNatFSUSFNA

    Semplesect. Thyrsiflorae

    Flora of North AmericaHeads 5–160 (2–10+ more per short branch cluster), in narrowly elongate paniculiform arrays, branches usually 1–6 cm (much longer in damaged plants, sometimes 1–3 proximal branches much elongated in undamaged plants), ascending and bearing short terminal racemiform or paniculiform clusters

    what lives on it2 galls

    2 gall forms

    larva is feeding evidence; adult only may be nectaring, not feeding. Names link to their entry here; iNat opens the observations.

  • 2Solidago erecta

    S. erectaSlender GoldenrodiNatFSUSFNA

    Semplesubsect. Erectae

    Flora of North AmericaHeads 15–350 (1–10 per branch), clustered on short divergent lateral branches in elongate and usually narrowly paniculiform arrays, often interrupted proximally, not secund, sometimes with ascending, straight or arching, elongate branches (like main axis)

    what lives on it2 galls

    2 gall forms

    larva is feeding evidence; adult only may be nectaring, not feeding. Names link to their entry here; iNat opens the observations.

  • 2Solidago gillmanii

    S. gillmaniiDune GoldenrodiNat

    Semplesubsect. Humiles

    placed by handNo FNA array sentence. Semple treats it as S. simplex var. gillmanii, in subsect. Humiles with S. spathulata, a wand; all of sect. Erectae is wand.

    what lives on it2 galls

    2 gall forms

    larva is feeding evidence; adult only may be nectaring, not feeding. Names link to their entry here; iNat opens the observations.

  • 2Solidago puberula

    S. puberulaDowny GoldenrodiNatFSUSFNA

    Semplesubsect. Erectae

    Flora of North AmericaHeads 15–250 , not secund, in elongate, paniculiform arrays, lateral racemiform clusters short and ascending, sometimes lateral branches elongated and sharply ascending

    what lives on it2 galls

    2 gall forms

    larva is feeding evidence; adult only may be nectaring, not feeding. Names link to their entry here; iNat opens the observations.

  • 2Solidago rigidiuscula

    S. rigidiusculaNarrowleaf Showy GoldenrodiNatFSUS

    Semplesubsect. Erectae

    placed by handNo FNA array sentence. Semple treats it in the S. speciosa complex, and S. speciosa is a wand.

    what lives on it2 galls · 2 caterpillars

    2 gall forms

    2 caterpillars recorded

    larva is feeding evidence; adult only may be nectaring, not feeding. Names link to their entry here; iNat opens the observations.

  • 2Solidago speciosa

    S. speciosaShowy Goldenrod, Noble GoldenrodiNatFSUSFNA

    Semplesubsect. Erectae

    Flora of North AmericaHeads 15–300+ , not secund, in usually dense, sometimes open, elongate, paniculiform to thyrsiform arrays, (5–)10–45 × (2–)3–7(–12) cm; branches strongly ascending, often racemiform

    what lives on it2 galls

    2 gall forms

    larva is feeding evidence; adult only may be nectaring, not feeding. Names link to their entry here; iNat opens the observations.

  • 1

    S. glutinosa

    Semplesubsect. Humiles

    placed by handNo FNA array sentence. Semple's account describes the array as wand-shaped.

    what lives on it1 gall

    1 gall form

    larva is feeding evidence; adult only may be nectaring, not feeding. Names link to their entry here; iNat opens the observations.

  • 1Solidago hispida

    S. hispidaHairy GoldenrodiNatFSUSFNA

    Semplesubsect. Erectae

    Flora of North AmericaHeads 8–250+ in usually wand-paniculiform arrays of short axillary and terminal racemiform, non-secund clusters, sometimes proximal branches elongated, ascending and bearing short axillary and terminal racemiform clusters

    what lives on it1 gall · 2 caterpillars

    1 gall form

    2 caterpillars recorded

    larva is feeding evidence; adult only may be nectaring, not feeding. Names link to their entry here; iNat opens the observations.

  • 1Solidago petiolaris

    S. petiolarisDowny GoldenrodiNatFSUSFNA

    Semplesect. Thyrsiflorae

    Flora of North AmericaHeads 10–190+ in paniculiform (rarely racemiform) arrays, usually elongate, usually leafy-bracteate, bracts similar to distal leaves but reduced; branches stiffly ascending, not secund, sometimes elongate

    what lives on it1 gall · 1 caterpillar

    1 gall form

    1 caterpillar recorded

    larva is feeding evidence; adult only may be nectaring, not feeding. Names link to their entry here; iNat opens the observations.

  • 1Solidago roanensis

    S. roanensisRoan Mountain GoldenrodiNatFSUSFNA

    Semplesubsect. Erectae

    Flora of North AmericaHeads 50–250, in elongate, narrowly paniculiform arrays, leafy-bracteate proximally, not secund, proximal branches sometimes elongated and ascending

    what lives on it1 gall

    1 gall form

    larva is feeding evidence; adult only may be nectaring, not feeding. Names link to their entry here; iNat opens the observations.

  • 1Solidago squarrosa

    S. squarrosaRagged Goldenrod, Stout Goldenrod, Squarrose GoldenrodiNatFSUSFNA

    Semplesect. Squarrosae

    Flora of North AmericaHeads 20–200, not secund, in narrow, elongate arrays of axillary and terminal racemiform clusters, branches and peduncles hairy, leafy-bracteate proximally

    what lives on it1 gall

    1 gall form

    larva is feeding evidence; adult only may be nectaring, not feeding. Names link to their entry here; iNat opens the observations.

  • ·Solidago spathulata

    S. spathulatacoast goldenrodiNatFNA

    Semplesubsect. Humiles

    Flora of North AmericaHeads 5–100+, not secund, in paniculiform arrays, or virgate to thyrsiform in robust plants, consisting of axillary and terminal racemiform clusters

  • ·Solidago stricta

    S. strictaPine Barren Bog GoldenrodiNatFSUSFNA

    Semplesect. Maritimae

    Flora of North AmericaHeads 15–250 , sometimes secund on proximal branches and secund terminus, in linear, narrowly elongate paniculiform to elongate pyramidal-secund or thyrsiform-paniculiform and not secund arrays, sometimes with a few elongate proximal, arching branches

    what lives on it1 caterpillar

    1 caterpillar recorded

    larva is feeding evidence; adult only may be nectaring, not feeding. Names link to their entry here; iNat opens the observations.

  • ·Solidago virgata

    S. virgataWand GoldenrodiNatFSUS

    Semplesect. Maritimae

    placed by handNo FNA array sentence. Semple describes a narrow, wand-like array whose lower branches are never elongated.

Elm-branched

An open spray whose lowest branches are much the longest, springing out sideways and arching over, the silhouette of an elm.

3 species · 8 host–gall records

The elm-branched group is the subtlest of the five, and the one field guides warn you about, because a loose plume and a tight elm look alike. The flora's wording separates them: in this group the lower branches are described as elongate and widely divergent, where a plume's are only recurved. All three plants here belong to the subsection Semple named after the group. Some plants do sit between the two shapes. The flora describes early goldenrod, filed under plumes above, as taking either an openly secund-pyramidal form or one it calls, in as many words, elm-tree shaped.

Flat-topped

A level or slightly domed head, corymbiform, the outer stalks longer so that every flower finishes at the same height.

13 species · 29 host–gall records

The flat top is easy to recognise. In classification these are the least settled plants in the genus: several have been moved in and out of a separate genus, Oligoneuron, more than once. All six Euthamia are flat-topped too, although they are a separate genus.

Flowering from the leaf axils

No plume at all. Small clusters sit in the angle between leaf and stem, all the way up an arching, often unbranched stem.

4 species · 10 host–gall records

These are the woodland goldenrods, and they look so unlike the rest that people meeting blue-stemmed or zigzag goldenrod in September commonly do not recognise the genus. They grow in shade, and they carry a thin scatter of flowers where the other groups carry a mass.

How they are related

The tree below is the classification, where the five shapes above are a convenience. It shows John Semple's arrangement of Solidago into four subgenera and their sections, drawn as a bracket tree with the 52 goldenrods this guide follows at their tips. It is not a measured phylogeny: the brackets show which groups nest inside which, and they do not measure distance. The order of the branches is still not guesswork. It follows Semple's arrangement of the genus, whose backbone is a phylogenomic tree of the diploid goldenrods, hundreds of loci deep.4950 The tree shows what the flowering shapes cannot: which of these plants are close kin.

Under each group in the tree is what Semple and Beck give as its characters, in plain words. A few groups carry no line, because the paper names them without describing them.49 The two large subgenera are separated by how the heads are arranged. Subgenus Solidago has them in a single spike or a branched spray. Subgenus Pleiactila has them in one-sided cones, in flat tops, or in clusters in the leaf axils. Below that level most of the characters are in the leaves. Section Unilaterales, which holds tall and Canada goldenrod, is the group with three-nerved leaves, and section Venosae, which holds rough-stemmed goldenrod, is the group with net-veined ones.

The tree is worth reading against the galls. The two most gall-ridden goldenrods on the continent, tall (S. altissima) and Canada (S. canadensis), sit together in series Canadensae; rough-stemmed goldenrod, the plant the podcast's hosts talked themselves out of, sits in the very next section. The confusion that recurs throughout this subject is between close neighbours on this tree.

  • subg. Solidago14 goldenrodsHeads in racemiform or paniculiform arrays: one unbranched spike of heads, or a branched spray.
    • sect. SolidagoBasal and lower stem leaves stalked. Heads generally large for the genus. Phyllaries lance-shaped, usually narrowing to a rounded tip.
      • ser. MacrophyllaeS. macrophylla3Involucres large for the genus, and the body of the fruit hairless. Northeastern North America.
    • sect. ErectaeBasal and lower stem leaves stalked. Heads mid-sized for the genus in the diploid species. Phyllaries oblong, with a rounded, blunt tip.
    • sect. SquarrosaeS. squarrosa1Involucres cylindrical. Phyllaries lance-shaped, with a somewhat leafy tip that bends outward or back. Québec south in the mountains to North Carolina.
    • sect. ThyrsifloraeS. buckleyi2S. petiolaris1The largest leaves are generally on the lower middle stem, and the lowest have usually dropped by flowering. Rosettes rarely present at flowering. Phyllaries mostly lance-shaped, sometimes with obvious stalked glands.
  • subg. Pleiactila35 goldenrodsHeads in one-sided conical arrays, in flat-topped arrays, or in clusters in the leaf axils.
    • sect. GlomerulifloraeS. caesia3S. curtisii1S. flexicaulis3Flowering stems leafy, with the heads in clusters in the leaf axils. Woodlands of eastern North America.
    • sect. PtarmicoideiS. houghtonii1S. nitida1S. ohioensis2S. ptarmicoides1S. riddellii1S. rigida4Basal rosettes usually present, and the weathered bases of old leaf stalks usually persist on the stems into the next season. Heads in flat-topped arrays. Phyllaries with several veins, except in S. ptarmicoides. These are the species that have been split off as the genus Oligoneuron.
    • sect. MultiradiataeS. multiradiata1Large heads in small flat-topped arrays, which become more branched as the lower branches develop. Mostly boreal and alpine.
    • sect. MaritimaeS. mexicana3S. sempervirens5S. strictaS. uliginosa4S. virgataThe stalks of the lower stem leaves sheathe the stem. Moist habitats, marshes and bogs.
    • sect. Argutae
      • subsect. ArgutaeS. arguta2
      • subsect. PatulaeS. patula3S. salicinaStems ridged. Leaves rough, with minute hairs that point toward the leaf tip. Moist habitats in eastern North America.
    • sect. VenosaeLeaves net-veined, not three-nerved. Lower stem leaves have often dropped by flowering. Eastern North America.
      • subsect. VenosaeS. fistulosa9S. latissimifolia3S. rugosa19Pappus longer than the corolla tube, reaching about the bases of the corolla lobes.
      • subsect. UlmifoliaeArrays usually with a few long, wide-spreading lower branches. Rosettes generally absent, and the upper stem leaves much reduced. Pappus about as long as the corolla tube.
        • ser. UlmifoliaeS. delicatula1S. ulmifolia5Leaves do not clasp the stem. Phyllaries pressed flat.
        • ser. AuriculataeS. auriculata2Leaf stalks and blades have ear-like lobes that clasp the stem. Phyllary tips spread or bend back.
    • sect. UnilateralesAt least the lower stem leaves have two larger side veins, so the middle of the leaf looks three-nerved.
      • subsect. TriplinerviaeNo basal rosette. Stems sparsely to densely short-hairy toward the top, often down to the base.
        • ser. CanadensaeS. altissima22S. canadensis17Lower stems hairless, or sparsely to densely grey-hairy. Lower stem leaves wither and drop. No basal rosette.
        • ser. TortifoliaeS. leavenworthii6S. tortifolia1Lower stems usually finely grey-hairy. The lower middle stem leaves often stay on after they wither: twisted several times, hanging, brown to black.
      • subsect. JunceaeBasal rosettes often present at flowering. Stems hairless, or sparsely hairy toward the top. Tufts of small leaves usually develop in the axils of the upper stem leaves.
      • subsect. RadulaeS. mollis1S. radula1S. velutina3Lower stem leaves the largest, and three-nerved. Stems finely rough-hairy. Basal rosette sometimes present.
      • subsect. SerotinaeS. gigantea16No basal rosette. Stem hairless to densely hairy.
  • subg. Nemorales1 goldenrodS. nemoralis6Leaves generally not three-nerved. Stem and leaf hairs soft. Leaves grey-green, sometimes whitish. Basal rosettes often present at flowering.
  • subg. Triactis2 goldenrodsSmall shrubs or herbaceous perennials. Leaves with one prominent midvein. Phyllaries lance-shaped and sharp-tipped, with well-developed translucent margins.
    • sect. OdoraeS. chapmanii4S. odora8Herbaceous perennials. Only the main vein of the leaf is prominent, and crushed leaves smell of anise. Eastern United States.

After Semple & Beck 2021 for the classification, read from the paper; the branching order follows their revised intuitive phylogeny, whose backbone is a phylogenomic tree of the diploid goldenrods.4950 The many polyploids and hybrids that the molecular sampling could not place are set by the classification instead. Neither published phylogeny figure is reproduced here; both are © their authors. The six Euthamia are a separate genus, in no Solidago subgenus; the guide keeps them because the field guides do.

Where they grow

These maps show the twelve goldenrods that carry the most galls. Each map has one square per state and province, placed roughly where it sits on the map: Canada along the top two rows, Alaska at the far left, Florida at the bottom. A square is filled where the plant has been recorded. A filled square means somebody found it in that state. It does not mean the plant is common there, and an empty one may only mean nobody looked.

Beside each map is the range as the Flora of the Southeastern US states it, in words, from an entirely separate source.51 The two are worth comparing, and Solidago canadensis shows why: the map has it nearly everywhere, and the flora stops it at Virginia, Ohio and Illinois. Neither source is wrong. Gallformers uses canadensis in the old broad sense, which takes in tall goldenrod and its close relatives; the flora uses the narrow modern one. This is the same disagreement two people had in a meadow in 2015, holding a plant that keyed both ways, and it has not gone away.248

S. altissima Tall Goldenrod

44 states, 6 provinces · 22 gall forms

the flora saysNova Scotia, Québec, and Saskatchewan south to n. Georgia, n. Alabama, n. Mississippi, Arkansas, and e. Oklahoma; introduced in w. North America

S. rugosa Wrinkle-leaf Goldenrod

32 states, 6 provinces · 19 gall forms

the flora saysNova Scotia west to Ontario, south to Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas

S. canadensis Northern Common Goldenrod

49 states, 12 provinces · 17 gall forms

the flora saysNewfoundland and Labrador (Newfoundland) west to Minnesota, south to Virginia, Ohio, and Illinois

S. gigantea Eastern Smooth Goldenrod

48 states, 10 provinces · 16 gall forms

the flora saysNova Scotia west to Alberta and e. North Dakota, south to Panhandle Florida (Liberty County) and ne. Texas

E. graminifolia Northern Smooth Goldentop

37 states, 12 provinces · 11 gall forms

the flora saysNewfoundland and Labrador (Newfoundland) and Manitoba south to Maryland, c. Virginia, West Virginia, w. North Carolina, Michigan, Wisconsin, Colorado, and New Mexico

S. juncea Early Goldenrod

32 states, 6 provinces · 11 gall forms

the flora saysNova Scotia west to Minnesota, south to Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and n. Louisiana

S. fistulosa Hairy Pineywoods Goldenrod

11 states · 9 gall forms

the flora saysNew Jersey south to s. Florida, west to Louisiana

S. odora Licorice Goldenrod

26 states · 8 gall forms

the flora saysNew Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Ohio, and Missouri south to Florida and Texas

S. leavenworthii Leavenworth's Goldenrod

4 states · 6 gall forms

the flora saysSe. North Carolina south to s. Florida, west to s. Alabama

S. nemoralis Eastern Gray Goldenrod

42 states, 9 provinces · 6 gall forms

the flora saysNova Scotia west to North Dakota, south to Panhandle Florida and Texas

S. sempervirens Northern Seaside Goldenrod

14 states, 6 provinces · 5 gall forms

the flora saysNewfoundland and Labrador (Newfoundland) south to ne. North Carolina along the coast (and introduced inland in saline situations such as along salted roadways); isolated more southern occurrences likely reflect introductions

S. ulmifolia Elmleaf Goldenrod

35 states, 2 provinces · 5 gall forms

the flora saysNova Scotia, Maine, Ontario, and Minnesota, south to Florida and Texas

Every goldenrod in this guide

All 58 named plants this guide tracks. 48 have a record in the Flora of the Southeastern US; the rest are northern or western species outside its area, not species it rejects.51 49 are treated as species by Flora of North America.48 Flowering months are the southeastern flora's.

PhotoSpeciesCommon name ShapeGalls FlowersElsewhere
Euthamia carolinianaE. carolinianaCarolina GoldentopFlat-topped3(Aug) Sep-DeciNatFSUSFNA
Euthamia graminifoliaE. graminifoliaNorthern Smooth GoldentopFlat-topped11Aug-OctiNatFSUSFNA
Euthamia leptocephalaE. leptocephalaNarrowhead GoldentopFlat-topped3Aug-OctiNatFSUSFNA
E. minorFlat-topped—
Euthamia occidentalisE. occidentaliswestern goldenrodFlat-topped1—iNatFNA
E. tenuifoliaFlat-topped—
Solidago altissimaS. altissimaTall GoldenrodPlume-like22Aug-OctiNatFSUSFNA
Solidago argutaS. argutaForest GoldenrodPlume-like2Aug-OctiNatFSUSFNA
Solidago auriculataS. auriculataEared GoldenrodElm-branched2Aug-SepiNatFSUSFNA
Solidago bicolorS. bicolorSilverrod, White GoldenrodClub- or wand-like3Jul-OctiNatFSUSFNA
Solidago buckleyiS. buckleyiBuckley’s GoldenrodClub- or wand-like2SepiNatFSUSFNA
Solidago caesiaS. caesiaAxillary GoldenrodFlowering from the leaf axils3Aug-OctiNatFSUSFNA
Solidago canadensisS. canadensisNorthern Common GoldenrodPlume-like17Aug-OctiNatFSUSFNA
Solidago chapmaniiS. chapmaniiChapman’s GoldenrodPlume-like4Sep-OctiNatFSUS
Solidago curtisiiS. curtisiiCurtis’s GoldenrodFlowering from the leaf axils1Sep-OctiNatFSUSFNA
Solidago delicatulaS. delicatulaSmooth Elmleaf GoldenrodElm-branched1(Jul-) Aug-Oct (-Jan)iNatFSUSFNA
Solidago erectaS. erectaSlender GoldenrodClub- or wand-like2Aug-OctiNatFSUSFNA
Solidago fistulosaS. fistulosaHairy Pineywoods GoldenrodPlume-like9Aug-NoviNatFSUSFNA
Solidago flexicaulisS. flexicaulisZigzag Goldenrod, Broad-leaved GoldenrodFlowering from the leaf axils3Jul-OctiNatFSUSFNA
Solidago giganteaS. giganteaEastern Smooth GoldenrodPlume-like16Aug-Sep (-Oct)iNatFSUSFNA
Solidago gillmaniiS. gillmaniiDune GoldenrodClub- or wand-like2—iNat
S. glutinosaClub- or wand-like1—
Solidago hispidaS. hispidaHairy GoldenrodClub- or wand-like1Jul-OctiNatFSUSFNA
Solidago houghtoniiS. houghtoniiHoughton's goldenrodFlat-topped1—iNatFNA
Solidago junceaS. junceaEarly GoldenrodPlume-like11Jul-OctiNatFSUSFNA
Solidago latissimifoliaS. latissimifoliaCoastal Swamp GoldenrodPlume-like3Aug-OctiNatFSUSFNA
Solidago leavenworthiiS. leavenworthiiLeavenworth's GoldenrodPlume-like6Aug-NoviNatFSUSFNA
Solidago macrophyllaS. macrophyllalarge-leaved goldenrodFlowering from the leaf axils3—iNatFNA
Solidago mexicanaS. mexicanaSouthern Seaside GoldenrodPlume-like3Late Aug-Jan (and year-round southwards)iNatFSUS
Solidago missouriensisS. missouriensisEastern Missouri GoldenrodPlume-like1(Jul-) Aug-OctiNatFSUSFNA
Solidago mollisS. mollisVelvet GoldenrodPlume-like1Sep-OctiNatFSUSFNA
Solidago multiradiataS. multiradiatanorthern goldenrodFlat-topped1—iNatFNA
Solidago nemoralisS. nemoralisEastern Gray GoldenrodPlume-like6Jun-NoviNatFSUSFNA
Solidago nitidaS. nitidaShiny GoldenrodFlat-topped1(Jul-) Aug-OctiNatFSUSFNA
Solidago odoraS. odoraLicorice GoldenrodPlume-like8Jul-OctiNatFSUSFNA
Solidago ohioensisS. ohioensisOhio GoldenrodFlat-topped2Aug-SepiNatFSUSFNA
Solidago patulaS. patulaNorthern Roughleaf GoldenrodPlume-like3Aug-Sep (-Oct)iNatFSUSFNA
Solidago petiolarisS. petiolarisDowny GoldenrodClub- or wand-like1Late Aug-NoviNatFSUSFNA
Solidago pinetorumS. pinetorumPineywoods GoldenrodPlume-like1Late Jun-SepiNatFSUSFNA
Solidago ptarmicoidesS. ptarmicoidesWhite Prairie-goldenrod, Upland White AsterFlat-topped1Aug-OctiNatFSUSFNA
Solidago puberulaS. puberulaDowny GoldenrodClub- or wand-like2Aug-OctiNatFSUSFNA
Solidago radulaS. radulaRough GoldenrodPlume-like1Aug-OctiNatFSUSFNA
Solidago riddelliiS. riddelliiRiddell's GoldenrodFlat-topped1Aug-NoviNatFSUSFNA
Solidago rigidaS. rigidaMidwestern Bold GoldenrodFlat-topped4Aug-OctiNatFSUSFNA
Solidago rigidiusculaS. rigidiusculaNarrowleaf Showy GoldenrodClub- or wand-like2(Aug-) Sep-OctiNatFSUS
Solidago roanensisS. roanensisRoan Mountain GoldenrodClub- or wand-like1Jul-SepiNatFSUSFNA
Solidago rugosaS. rugosaWrinkle-leaf GoldenrodPlume-like19Aug-OctiNatFSUSFNA
S. salicinaSouthern Roughleaf GoldenrodPlume-likeSep-OctFSUS
Solidago sempervirensS. sempervirensNorthern Seaside GoldenrodPlume-like5Late Aug-NoviNatFSUSFNA
Solidago spathulataS. spathulatacoast goldenrodClub- or wand-like—iNatFNA
Solidago speciosaS. speciosaShowy Goldenrod, Noble GoldenrodClub- or wand-like2Aug-OctiNatFSUSFNA
Solidago squarrosaS. squarrosaRagged Goldenrod, Stout Goldenrod, Squarrose GoldenrodClub- or wand-like1Aug-SepiNatFSUSFNA
Solidago strictaS. strictaPine Barren Bog GoldenrodClub- or wand-like—iNatFSUSFNA
Solidago tortifoliaS. tortifoliaLeafy Pineywoods GoldenrodPlume-like1Aug-NoviNatFSUSFNA
Solidago uliginosaS. uliginosaNorthern Bog GoldenrodClub- or wand-like4Jul-SepiNatFSUSFNA
Solidago ulmifoliaS. ulmifoliaElmleaf GoldenrodElm-branched5Aug-OctiNatFSUSFNA
Solidago velutinaS. velutinavelvety goldenrodPlume-like3—iNatFNA
Solidago virgataS. virgataWand GoldenrodClub- or wand-likeLate Aug-OctiNatFSUS