The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

seaside goldenrod, verge d'or toujours verte

Buckley's goldenrod

Habit Plants 40–200 cm; caudices short, stout. Plants 60–120 cm; caudices thick, woody, roots thick.
Stems

1–10(–20+), erect or ascending, glabrous throughout or hairy in arrays.

1–5+, sparsely to moderately short strigose or villous.

Leaves

rosettes present at flowering;

basal and proximal cauline tapering to long, winged petioles sheathing stems or nearly so, blades narrowly ovate to oblanceolate, 100–400 × 10–60 mm, thick or fleshy, entire, acute, glabrous;

mid to distal cauline usually numerous, sessile, blades lanceolate, 40–60 × 5–10 mm, reduced distally, thick or fleshy, bases sometimes subclasping, margins entire.

basal withering by flowering, petiolate, smaller to much smaller than cauline, blades oblanceolate, margins serrate;

cauline sessile, blades elliptic-lanceolate or -oblanceolate, mid 80–140 × 2.5–4 mm, distally reduced, usually membranous, bases tapering, attenuate, margins sharply toothed along much of length to nearly entire, ciliate, abaxial faces short-pilose along small and large nerves, adaxial short-pilose along larger nerves.

Peduncles

2–3 mm, glabrous or sparsely hairy.

1–6 mm, moderately canescent;

bracteoles linear to lanceolate.

Involucres

3–7 mm.

campanulate, 4.5–5.5 mm.

Ray florets

8–17;

laminae 5–6.2 × 0.4–0.6 mm.

6–8;

laminae 3–4 × 1–1.5 mm wide.

Disc florets

10–22;

corollas 3–3.2 mm, lobes 0.5–1.2 mm.

8–14;

corollas 4–5 mm, lobes ca. 1.5 mm.

Phyllaries

in 3–4 series, unequal, lanceolate, margins ciliate, apices acute.

in ca. 3 series, strongly unequal, erect to slightly squarrose-tipped, lanceolate, apices acute, glabrate, sparsely to moderately, finely stipitate-glandular.

Heads

20–500, secund, in paniculiform arrays, secund-pyramidal to broadly club-shaped, sometimes leafy proximally, at least proximal branches spreading-recurved, branches and peduncles bracteolate, bracteoles reduced distally.

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.

Cypselae

(obconic) 1.1–1.5 mm, moderately strigose;

pappi 3.8–4 mm (slightly clavate).

(reddish brown) 2–3 mm, glabrous;

pappi 4–5 mm.

Solidago sempervirens

Solidago buckleyi

Phenology Flowering Sep.
Habitat Open oak woods, ridges and slopes, bluffs
Elevation 100–300 m (300–1000 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; CT; DE; FL; GA; IL; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MS; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; PA; RI; SC; TX; VA; NB; NF; NS; ON; PE; QC; Mexico; Central America; West Indies [Introduced inland around Great Lakes, introduced to Atlantic Islands (Azores)]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AR; IL; IN; KY; MO
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora).

Solidago sempervirens is common along the seacoast from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to central America and the northern West Indies. Introduced populations are sometimes very large near the Detroit River and Lake Erie in southwestern Ontario, eastern Michigan, and adjacent Ohio. A second disjunct group of populations occurs in Illinois and Indiana in the Chicago area at the southern end of Lake Michigan. Two mostly geographically separate subspecies can be recognized in the flora range. A race also occurs in the Azores and is undoubtedly introduced there [Solidago sempervirens var. azorica (Hochstetter ex Seubert) H. St. John]. Plants cultivated in European gardens have been labeled S. sempervirens var. viminea (Aiton) A. Gray.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Solidago buckleyi is an uncommon species of mesic woods, most variable in the size and number of teeth on the large mid cauline leaves. Once seen, usually it is not easily confused with S. petiolaris. Reports from farther east are for plants of S. petiolaris.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Key
1. Involucres 4–7 mm, rays 12–17, disc florets ca. 17–22; Newfoundland to New Jersey, locally to Virginia
subsp. sempervirens
1. Involucres 3–4 mm, rays 7–11, disc florets ca. 10–16; Massachusetts to Texas and southward
subsp. mexicana
Source FNA vol. 20, p. 136. FNA vol. 20, p. 118.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Solidago > sect. Solidago > subsect. Maritimae Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Solidago > sect. Solidago > subsect. Thyrsiflorae
Sibling taxa
S. albopilosa, S. altiplanities, S. altissima, S. arenicola, S. arguta, S. auriculata, S. bicolor, S. brachyphylla, S. buckleyi, S. caesia, S. canadensis, S. confinis, S. curtisii, S. delicatula, S. drummondii, S. elongata, S. erecta, S. faucibus, S. fistulosa, S. flexicaulis, S. gattingeri, S. gigantea, S. glomerata, S. guiradonis, S. hispida, S. houghtonii, S. juliae, S. juncea, S. kralii, S. lancifolia, S. latissimifolia, S. leavenworthii, S. leiocarpa, S. lepida, S. ludoviciana, S. macrophylla, S. missouriensis, S. mollis, S. multiradiata, S. nana, S. nemoralis, S. nitida, S. odora, S. ohioensis, S. ouachitensis, S. patula, S. petiolaris, S. pinetorum, S. plumosa, S. ptarmicoides, S. puberula, S. pulchra, S. radula, S. riddellii, S. rigida, S. roanensis, S. rugosa, S. rupestris, S. sciaphila, S. shortii, S. simplex, S. spathulata, S. speciosa, S. spectabilis, S. sphacelata, S. spithamaea, S. squarrosa, S. stricta, S. tarda, S. tortifolia, S. uliginosa, S. ulmifolia, S. velutina, S. verna, S. villosicarpa, S. wrightii
S. albopilosa, S. altiplanities, S. altissima, S. arenicola, S. arguta, S. auriculata, S. bicolor, S. brachyphylla, S. caesia, S. canadensis, S. confinis, S. curtisii, S. delicatula, S. drummondii, S. elongata, S. erecta, S. faucibus, S. fistulosa, S. flexicaulis, S. gattingeri, S. gigantea, S. glomerata, S. guiradonis, S. hispida, S. houghtonii, S. juliae, S. juncea, S. kralii, S. lancifolia, S. latissimifolia, S. leavenworthii, S. leiocarpa, S. lepida, S. ludoviciana, S. macrophylla, S. missouriensis, S. mollis, S. multiradiata, S. nana, S. nemoralis, S. nitida, S. odora, S. ohioensis, S. ouachitensis, S. patula, S. petiolaris, S. pinetorum, S. plumosa, S. ptarmicoides, S. puberula, S. pulchra, S. radula, S. riddellii, S. rigida, S. roanensis, S. rugosa, S. rupestris, S. sciaphila, S. sempervirens, S. shortii, S. simplex, S. spathulata, S. speciosa, S. spectabilis, S. sphacelata, S. spithamaea, S. squarrosa, S. stricta, S. tarda, S. tortifolia, S. uliginosa, S. ulmifolia, S. velutina, S. verna, S. villosicarpa, S. wrightii
Subordinate taxa
S. sempervirens subsp. mexicana, S. sempervirens subsp. sempervirens
Synonyms Aster sempervirens Aster buckleyi
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 878. (1753) Torrey & A. Gray: Fl. N. Amer. 2: 198. (1842)
Web links