Solidago sempervirens
Solidago hispida
seaside goldenrod, verge d'or toujours verte
hairy goldenrod, verge d'or hispide
1–10(–20+), erect or ascending, glabrous throughout or hairy in arrays.
1(–5), erect, simple, glabrous or moderately to densely hispido-villous, sometimes hairs appressed.
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 and proximal cauline tapering to winged petioles, blades broadly oblanceolate to obovate or elliptic, 35–200 (including petioles) × 15–60 mm, margins serrate or crenate, apices acute, faces sparsely to densely hispido-villous, rarely glabrous;
mid and distal cauline sessile, blades elliptic, 15–30 × 5–7 mm, rapidly reduced distally, margins entire.
2–3 mm, glabrous or sparsely hairy.
1.5–2.5 mm, hispido-villous to canescent.
3–7 mm.
campanulate, 4–6 mm.
8–17;
laminae 5–6.2 × 0.4–0.6 mm.
6–14;
laminae 1.5–4.5 × 0.5–1 mm.
10–22;
corollas 3–3.2 mm, lobes 0.5–1.2 mm.
6–12;
corollas 3–4.5 mm, lobes 0.6–1.2 mm.
in 3–4 series, unequal, lanceolate, margins ciliate, apices acute.
in 3–4 series, appressed, strongly unequal, midribs and tips conspicuously green, margins white, scarious, apices obtuse, glabrous or moderately strigose.
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.
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.
(obconic) 1.1–1.5 mm, moderately strigose;
pappi 3.8–4 mm (slightly clavate).
(narrowly obconic) 1–2.5 mm, glabrous;
pappi 2.5–4 mm (sometimes distinctly clavate).
= 18.
Solidago sempervirens
Solidago hispida
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.)
Ray floret color can fade with time, both in the field and on dried specimens, making it difficult to distinguish Solidago hispida from S. bicolor, in which it has sometimes been included. The latter tends to have slightly broader phyllaries and more obviously clavate pappus bristles. The two co-occur in some populations but do not appear to form hybrid swarms with a range in ray corolla color. Three varieties have been described on the basis of growth and pubescence features and are sometimes recognized. These may represent only extremes in continua of variation. Variety lanata has densely villous stems and leaves; such plants occur scattered through much of the range of the species. Two glabrous-stemmed varieties have been described; plants of var. tonsa are relatively small and were first described from Newfoundland; var. huronensis includes relatively tall glabrous plants found growing in sand dunes along the shore of Lake Huron in Michigan and Ontario. The latter plants have been treated as var. tonsa but the name is misapplied. Other varietal names are based on minor variations.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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 |
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