Solidago speciosa (Showy goldenrod)

Solidago speciosa Nutt.

Showy goldenrod

Showy goldenrods are natives of North America. For a comparison chart of some of the varieties of goldenrods, see Solidago.

Plants: 2–6′ (60–182 cm) high, usually a single, unbranched stem that is usually reddish, sometimes green.

Leaves: 6 ⨉ 1½″ (15 ⨉ 3.8 cm), long and narrow (”lanceolate”) or somewhat wider at the center (“narrowly ovate”). Upper leaves are much smaller. Leaf edges are usually smooth and leaves are hairless.

Flowers: Flowerheads are erect and upright, conical in shape, up to 1′ (30 cm) at the top of the stem, with tight clusters of tiny yellow flowers. Each composite flower is about ¼″ (6.3 mm) across, and has 3-7 ray florets and 6-16 disc florets. Flowers appear from August to October.

Fruits: Flowers become small spherical arrangements of seeds on “parachutes,” called cypselae, like dandilions gone to seed. The cypselae are 1/16–⅛″ (1.6–5.5 mm) in diameter.

Habitats: Openings in prairies, forests, thickets, and savannas, slightly wet or dry.

Edibility: Not edible.

Online References:

Illinois Wildflowers

Ontario Wildflowers

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Flora of North America

References:

Newcomb, Lawrence, Morrison, Gordon (Illus.), Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide, Little, Brown and Company, 1977, p. 452

Peterson, Roger Tory, McKenny, Margaret, Peterson Field Guides: Wildflowers—Northeastern and North Central North America, Houghton Mifflin, 1968, p. 198

5/22/2010 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Massachusetts

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin)
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Magnoliopsida	Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves
Subclass	Asteridae	A large class that encompasses asters
Order	Asterales	Flowering plants with a central disk flower and surrounding petals, like daisies
Family	Asteraceae	The aster family, which also includes daisies and sunflowers; from the Greek ἀστήρ, “star,” for the star-shaped flowers
Genus	Solidago	From Latin solido, “to make whole or heal,” because it was believed these species had healing properties
Species	speciosa	"Showy, splendid" (from Stearn's Botanical Latin)

About plant names...

Range: Zones 3-8:

About this map...

Solidago speciosa description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.