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seaside goldenrod, verge d'or toujours verte

Photo is of parent taxon

seaside goldenrod

Habit Plants 40–200 cm; caudices short, stout.
Stems

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

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.

Peduncles

2–3 mm, glabrous or sparsely hairy.

Involucres

3–7 mm.

3–4 mm.

Ray florets

8–17;

laminae 5–6.2 × 0.4–0.6 mm.

Disc florets

10–22;

corollas 3–3.2 mm, lobes 0.5–1.2 mm.

ca. 10–16.

Phyllaries

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

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.

Cypselae

(obconic) 1.1–1.5 mm, moderately strigose;

pappi 3.8–4 mm (slightly clavate).

Rays

7–11.

2n

=18.

Solidago sempervirens

Solidago sempervirens subsp. mexicana

Phenology Flowering Sep–Dec.
Habitat Dunes by ocean, edges of brackish marshes
Elevation 0–10 m (0–0 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
AL; CT; DE; FL; GA; LA; MA; MD; MS; NC; NJ; NY; PA; RI; SC; TX; VA; Central America; Mexico (Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Veracruz); West Indies
[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.)

Subspecies mexicana is found along the coast from Massachusetts to Texas and southward. It may hybridize with Solidago stricta along the Florida Gulf coast.

(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. 137.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Solidago > sect. Solidago > subsect. Maritimae Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Solidago > sect. Solidago > subsect. Maritimae > Solidago sempervirens
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. sempervirens subsp. sempervirens
Subordinate taxa
S. sempervirens subsp. mexicana, S. sempervirens subsp. sempervirens
Synonyms Aster sempervirens S. mexicana, Aster mexicanus, S. sempervirens var. mexicana
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 878. (1753) (Linnaeus) Semple: Sida 20: 1615. (2003)
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