Leaves: basal sometimes present in rosettes at flowering, proximalmost cauline petiolate, often present at flowering, largest, not 3-nerved. Heads in wand to club-shaped thyrsiform-paniculiform arrays, not secund. Phyllaries not striate (except S. roanensis), sometimes stipitate-glandular. Pappus bristles usually in 2, rarely 3 series (shorter outer setiform scales rarely present, inner bristles usually strongly clavate).

Distribution

North America

Discussion

Species 9 (9 in the flora).

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

Solidago bicolor, Solidago erecta, Solidago hispida, Solidago puberula, Solidago roanensis, Solidago sciaphila, Solidago speciosa, Solidago squarrosa, Solidago villosicarpa

Key

1	Rays white	Solidago bicolor
1	Rays yellow (may turn pale yellow with age)	> 2
2	Phyllaries recurved	Solidago squarrosa
2	Phyllaries appressed	> 3
3	Phyllaries and adjacent peduncle bracts moderately, finely stipitate-glandular; coastalplain, North Carolina	Solidago villosicarpa
3	Phyllaries and peduncle bracts not glandular	> 4
4	Phyllaries linear-lanceolate, attenuate (tapering to acute or rounded tips)	> 5
4	Phyllaries ovate to lanceolate, acute to obtuse or rounded	> 6
5	Stems and leaves strigillose; rays mostly 9–16; inner phyllaries not striate	Solidago puberula
5	Stems and leaves (proximal to mid stems) glabrous; rays mostly 6–9; inner phyllaries usually striate with 2 prominent secondary nerves	Solidago roanensis
6	Cypselae persistently moderately strigose; mid cauline leaves rhombic, proximal to mid cauline leaves usually sharply serrate; sandstone and limestone bluffs and ledges along Mississippi River; Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin	Solidago sciaphila
6	Cypselae glabrous or sparsely strigillose	> 7
7	Leaves and stems sparsely to densely hispid	Solidago hispida
7	Leaves and stems proximal to arrays glabrous	> 8
8	Stem glabrous in arrays; dunes of Lake Huron	Solidago hispida
8	Stems sparsely strigillose in mid to distal arrays	> 9
9	Arrays of heads either narrowly thyrsiform and often interrupted or branches well spaced; mid cauline leaves 5–20 mm wide; Massachusetts to se Indiana, s to Georgia and Missis-sippi, mostly avoiding coastal plain southward	Solidago erecta
9	Arrays of heads usually denser, broader, and crowded, sometimes more open in robust plants, or narrow in plants outside range of S. erecta; mid cauline leaves often more than 20 mm wide; Massachusetts to Georgia, w to e prairies, to Black Hills area, scattered s in Colorado to ne New Mexico	Solidago speciosa