Online Virtual Flora of Wisconsin

Solidago canadensis L.

Family: Asteraceae

Canadian goldenrod, common goldenrod

Kenneth J. Sytsma

Merel R. Black

University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Robert W. Freckmann Herbarium (UWSP)

Open Interactive Map

Etymology: Solidago: from Latin solido, meaning "to make whole or heal" and a reference to the supposed, medicinal qualities of these plants
Plants: erect, perennial, 1'-7' tall forb forming large, dense patches; leafy stems with fine hairs especially toward the top but otherwise smooth
Leaves: narrow, pointed at both ends, stalkless, 3-veined, mostly all the same size, sharply toothed
Flowers: heads with 10-17 tiny, yellow rays; pointed, thin, yellowish bracts (phyllaries); inflorescence a 10" open, spreading cluster with the heads mostly along one side of the often backward-curving, long branches; blooms July-Oct.
Fruits: dry seed with short hairs on fluffy pappus
Habitat: full to partial sun; moist to dry; roadsides, fields, woods, prairies
Conservation Status: Native

Common in fields, pastures, roadsides, ditches, fencerows, thickets, semi-open woodlands, wet meadows, riverbanks, fens, conifer swamps, and open sandy or rocky ground throughout Wisconsin. This species includes two diploid varieties, both with wide pyramidal panicles, small heads, and upper cauline leaves usually thin and serrate. Variety canadensis has stems glabrous or sparsely pilose except near the inflorescence; adaxial surfaces of leaves glabrous or sparsely scabrous, and abaxial surfaces pilose only along the veins. It is more common in northern Wisconsin. Variety hargeri Fern. has lower to mid stems moderately hairy, adaxial surface of leaves densely scabrous, and abaxial surfaces puberulent across the entire surface. It is common throughout the state and can be difficult to distinguish from S. altissima subsp. altissima. It tends to be smaller, with shorter rhizomes, thinner, serrated leaves, shorter involucres (less than 3 mm high), heads with only 1--3 disk flowers, and main inflorescence branches more horizontally elongated. Salamun (1964) misapplied var. gilvocanescens to Wisconsin specimens of var. hargeri. According to Semple and Cook (2006) the large insect galls common on S. altissima and S. gigantea do not form on S. canadensis.