Solidago speciosa |
Solidago sect. Solidago |
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noble goldenrod, showy goldenrod |
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Habit | Plants (30–)50–200 cm; caudices stout, woody. | |||||||||
Stems | 1(–5), erect, glabrous proximally to strigillose in arrays. |
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Leaves | basal and proximal cauline (sometimes withering by flowering) tapering to winged petioles, blades lanceolate to ovate-elliptic, 50–300 (including petiole) × 12–80 mm (sometimes firm), margins sharply serrate to crenate or entire, faces glabrate to sparsely strigillose; mid to distal cauline sessile, blades narrowly ovate to lanceolate or elliptic, 25–90 × 5–30 mm, gradually reduced distally, margins serrulate to entire (distally), ciliate, faces glabrous or sparsely scabroso-strigose. |
basal (rosettes) usually withering by flowering; petiole bases or vasculature not persisting on rhizomes; proximalmost cauline petiolate, sometimes present at flowering; proximal and distal sometimes 3-nerved. |
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Peduncles | 1.5–3 mm, sparsely to moderately scabroso-strigillose; bracteoles linear, grading into phyllaries, scattered along peduncles, clustered near heads. |
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Involucres | narrowly campanulate, 4–6.5 mm. |
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Ray florets | (2–)3–7(–9); laminae 3–4 × 0.5–1 mm. |
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Disc florets | 6–16; corollas 2.5–4 mm, lobes 0.5–1.2 mm. |
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Phyllaries | in 3–4 series, appressed, strongly unequal, outer ovate, mid and inner lanceolate, (midnerves often raised and thick) apices acute to obtuse or rounded, glabrous. |
1-nerved, usually not striate (3–5-nerved and striate in S. glomerata, S. lancifolia, S. roanensis) sometimes minutely stipitate-glandular, sometimes resinous. |
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Heads | 15–300+, not secund, in usually dense, sometimes open, elongate, paniculiform to thyrsiform arrays, (5–)10–45 × (2–)3–7(–12) cm; branches strongly ascending, often racemiform. |
in ± paniculiform or thyrsiform arrays (wand-, club-, or secund cone-shaped) or in axillary clusters, sometimes in rounded corymbiform arrays. |
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Cypselae | (narrowly obconic) 1.6–2.5 mm, glabrous; pappi 3–4.5 mm. |
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Pappus | bristles in 2–3 series (shorter, outer setiform scales rarely present, outer, longer bristles apically attenuate, inner bristles longest, weakly to strongly clavate). |
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Solidago speciosa |
Solidago sect. Solidago |
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Distribution |
AL; AR; CO; CT; DE; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; ND; NE; NJ; NM; NY; OH; OK; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; VA; VT; WI; WV; WY; ON
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North America; South America; temperate Eurasia [Introduced in tropical Asia] |
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Discussion | Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora). Solidago speciosa occurs scattered throughout its range, often in small populations. Five races have been acknowledged; only three varieties appear to warrant recognition. The species is divided into two nearly allopatric subspecies. The typical subspecies includes two varieties that are sometimes difficult to distinguish and considerably overlap in their ranges. The differences in size and number of leaves and persistence of the proximal cauline leaves may be caused in part by growing conditions. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Species ca. 95 (71 in the flora). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 20, p. 123. | FNA vol. 20, p. 110. | ||||||||
Parent taxa | Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Solidago > sect. Solidago > subsect. Squarrosae | Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Solidago | ||||||||
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Synonyms | Aster speciosus | |||||||||
Name authority | Nuttall: Gen. N. Amer. Pl. 2: 160. (1818) | unknown | ||||||||
Web links |