Solidago sempervirens
Solidago pulchra
seaside goldenrod, verge d'or toujours verte
Carolina goldenrod
1–10(–20+), erect or ascending, glabrous throughout or hairy in arrays.
1, erect, slender.
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 tufted, tapering, petiolate, petioles 20–100 mm, blades oblanceolate or elliptic, 30–120 (including petiole) × 5–15 mm, obtuse to rounded;
cauline sessile, blades oblanceolate to linear-lanceolate, 5–80 × 4–1.3 mm, abruptly reduced proximally, becoming bractlike proximal to arrays.
2–3 mm, glabrous or sparsely hairy.
2–25 mm;
bracteoles crowded, linear, 1–2 mm, grading into phyllaries.
3–7 mm.
broadly campanulate, 3.5–5 mm.
8–17;
laminae 5–6.2 × 0.4–0.6 mm.
6–14;
laminae 2–3 × 1–2 mm.
10–22;
corollas 3–3.2 mm, lobes 0.5–1.2 mm.
mostly 12–30;
corollas 3.5–4 mm, lobes 0.5–0.75 mm.
in 3–4 series, unequal, lanceolate, margins ciliate, apices acute.
in 3–4 series, linear-lanceolate, strongly unequal, acute to slightly acuminate or cuspidate, glabrous.
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.
5–20(–50), in slender racemiform or paniculiform arrays, sometimes secund and apically recurved, more often erect and not secund, sometimes compact and somewhat rounded to only slightly elongate.
(obconic) 1.1–1.5 mm, moderately strigose;
pappi 3.8–4 mm (slightly clavate).
1.5–2 mm, sparsely finely strigose;
pappi (basally broader and flattened, fused to varying lengths) 3–4 mm (somewhat clavate).
= 36.
Solidago sempervirens
Solidago pulchra
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 pulchra is a distinct species, not easily confused once seen in the field. It is known only from Brunswick, Pender, and Onslow counties, where it occurs in scattered populations of few to numerous individuals. The basally fused and flattened pappus bristles are very unusual in the genus. Occurrence of the species in South Carolina is unconfirmed.
(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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