Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Asterales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Solidago puberula
FAMILY
Asteraceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Downy Goldenrod's stems and leaves are covered with tiny whitish hairs that usually give the plant a grayish-green tone. The inflorescence is elliptical (to narrowly conical) and tapered to both ends. In the field it resembles S. erecta and S. roanensis, but those plants are smooth (glabrous) at least below mid-stem. Its involucral bracts are attenuate. Most of the NC specimen labels in SERNEC are from upland sites, though a few are from bogs and other wetlands. Read more at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
The Solidago puberula complex is considered to include four species: S. puberula and S. pulverulenta (sometimes treated at varietal or subspecific rank); S. roanensis, with very short hairs on the upper stems similar to those of the first two, but glabrous to very sparsely hairy proximally; and S. sciaphila. Among these four, multivariate analyses indicate that S. sciaphila is the most distinct and S. puberula and S. pulverulenta are the most similar, per Semple, 2020.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Solidago puberula var. puberula
FAMILY
Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21 (2006)
Solidago puberula ssp. puberula
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-49-009a:
Solidago puberula var. puberula FAMILY Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Solidago puberula
COMMON NAME:
Downy Goldenrod
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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Patrick D. McMillan pdmspuberula_vpubwhites1
Month Unknown Jackson County NC
Whiteside Mountain
Minutely hairy throughout. The inflorescence is a narrow terminal panicle, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Solidago puberula
FAMILY
Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Solidago puberula var. puberula
FAMILY
Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 19-20-21
Solidago puberula ssp. puberula
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 179-49-009a:
Solidago puberula var. puberula
FAMILY
Asteraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Solidago puberula
2333
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: bogs, wet meadows, and wet pastures, in dry acid soils in VA and WV, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common in NC Mountains, uncommon in Mountains of GA & SC (rare elsewhere in GA-NC-SC)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple
Midstem leaves not 3-nerved
Leaves basally disposed (basal & lower stem leaves larger, petiolate, & usually persistent); middle and upper stem leaves smaller & less petiolate
Alternate & basal
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Rays: Yellow
Disc: Yellow
Inferior ovary
Disc flowers bisexual & fertile/ Ray flowers pistillate & fertile
Flower heads in elongate cylindrical inflorescences that are tapered at both ends
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Achene
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p282
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p328
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p379
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p203
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