Solidago caesia
Solidago missouriensis
axillary goldenrod, blue-stem goldenrod, blue-stem or woodland or wreath goldenrod, verge d'or bleuâtre, wreath goldenrod
Missouri goldenrod, prairie goldenrod
1–10+, usually blue to purple, glaucous, arching, straight, usually simple, occasionally with 2–3(–4) elongated lateral branches, glabrous or slightly strigose in arrays.
1–50+, erect, glabrous or sometimes sparsely strigose in arrays;
fascicles of small lateral branch leaves often present in axils.
basal withering by flowering;
proximal to mid cauline sessile, blades lanceolate, (47–)70–100(–150) × 8–20(–30) mm, margins serrate (with 0–24 teeth per side), apices acuminate, faces abaxially glabrous or sparsely hairy, adaxially sparsely hairy;
distal sessile, blades narrowly lanceolate, (20–)40–70(–100) × (3.4–)5.6–11(–17) mm, margins entire to slightly serrate, faces glabrous or sparsely hairy.
proximal cauline tapering to long, winged petioles, blades oblanceolate to linear-oblanceolate, 50–100(–200) (including petiole) × (5–)10–20(–30) mm, margins entire to serrulate, usually 3-nerved (2 larger lateral nerves), apices acute, mucronate to acuminate and somewhat spinulose, glabrous;
mid to distal cauline sessile, blades lanceolate to linear, 40–60 × (2–)4–14 mm, rapidly reduced distally, margins entire, ciliate, faces glabrous.
2–10 mm, sparsely to moderately strigose;
bracteoles linear, 1–8.
1.4–5 mm, glabrous or sparsely strigose;
bracteoles 0–3+, linear to lanceolate.
narrowly campanulate, (3.5–)4.8–6(–7.2) mm.
narrowly to broadly campanulate, 2.5–4.5 mm.
1–6;
laminae (1.5–)2–3(–4) × ca. 1 mm.
5–14;
laminae 1.5–2(–4) × 0.2–0.5(–0.75) mm.
3–6(–9);
corollas 2–3(–4) mm, lobes (0.5–)1–1.5(–2) mm.
(6–)8–20;
corollas (2–)3–4 mm, lobes 0.4–1 mm.
in ca. 3 series, unequal, outermost lanceolate (1–1.7 mm), acute, innermost linear-oblong (2.3–4 mm), 1-nerved, obtuse to acute.
in 3–4 series, strongly unequal, margins ciliate-fimbriate, especially apically;
outer ovate to lanceolate, acute to rounded, inner linear-ovate to oblong or linear-lanceolate, obtuse to rounded.
9–380, in short, secund, axillary and terminal racemo-paniculiform clusters (4.4–)13–36(–58) cm.
10–210 in paniculiform arrays, broadly secund-pyramidal or more rhombic to transversely rhombic, (1.5–)3–12(–20) × (1.5–)3–12 cm;
branches glabrous with secund heads spreading and arching, sometimes ascending with non-secund heads.
1–2(–2.5) mm, moderately to densely strigose;
pappi 2–3(–3.7) mm.
(obconic) 1–2 mm, glabrous or sparsely strigose;
pappi 2.5–3 mm.
= 18, 36.
Solidago caesia
Solidago missouriensis
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).
Solidago caesia is sometimes defined more broadly to include the erect-stemmed S. curtisii and S. ouachitensis.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Solidago missouriensis was often introduced along railroad lines farther east. It is a highly variable species. In the east, it can be similar to S. juncea and is not always easily distinguished where ranges overlap. In the west, it can similar to smaller plants of S. spectabilis. It is distinguished from the related species by its usually 3-nerved proximal leaves and the usually thin, elongate rhizomes. Across the prairies the species is known to be diploid only (2n = 18). In the Rocky Mountains, tetraploids (2n = 36) are common, the diploids infrequent.
A number of varieties have been described. Shorter, often larger-headed plants (tetraploids when known) from the Rocky Mountains have been treated as var. missouriensis (including var. extraria). Taller, more leafy-stemmed plants, mostly from the eastern half of the range, but occasionally west to Washington, have been treated as var. fasciculata. Plants from Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico with long, linear leaves have been treated as var. tenuissima. Larger-headed plants with narrow bracts from prairies west of the Cascades in Oregon and Washington have been treated as var. tolmieana. A. Cronquist (1994) opted not to recognize varieties, noting that all appeared to grade continuously into each other. A detailed study of the species is needed.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Proximal midcauline leaves narrowly lanceolate, 50–150 × 8–30 cm; stems strongly arching; throughout most of range | var. caesia |
1. Proximal midcauline leaves shorter and broadly lanceolate to rhombic, 50–90 × 13–24 mm; stems weakly arching; wet lowlands of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi | var. zedia |
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