| Author | (A. Gray) A. Heller | |
| Distribution | Essentially throughout the state, except scarce in the northeastern corner. This species was formerly a part of S. arguta, and more recently as S. arguta var. caroliniana. NOTE: Weakley (2022, 2024) treats this entity as S. vaseyi (A. Gray) Heller. Many herbaria specimens still are named as S. arguta, but the website editors believe that the map below is reasonably accurate, as is the map for S. arguta on this website. See Taxonomic Comments.
MD to WV and MO, south to northern FL, southern MS, and AR. | |
| Abundance | Fairly common to common in much of the state, but scarce in the northeastern counties. | |
| Habitat | Dry to mesic soils of pine-hardwood woodlands and forests, openings in the same habitats, Longleaf Pine-Wiregrass savannas, and rocky slopes and bluffs. Differences in habitat between this species and the very similar S. arguta are not obvious in the Mountains and Piedmont. However, as the latter is scarce in the Coastal Plain, individuals of the arguta/vaseyi complex in this last province, no matter the habitat, should be vaseyi. Both species, however, grow in uplands as opposed to wetlands, and both favor moderate or light shade as opposed to open and sunny habitats. | |
| Phenology | Flowering and fruiting September to early November. | |
| Identification | See the account for Forest Goldenrod (S. arguta). Atlantic Goldenrod usually is a much more slender plant overall, with broadly spreading inflorescence branches. Its basal leaves are narrower -- more elliptical and less broadly ovate -- than are those of S. arguta, and the stem leaves are also narrower. Note that some plants and populations will not key cleanly. According to FNA, the seeds of Atlantic Goldenrod are short-hairy, at least partly, vs. smooth in Forest Goldenrod. | |
| Taxonomic Comments | A note about Solidago arguta. It has traditionally been a difficult complex of entities, and there is even today much disagreement as to which to recognize, and at which rank. We follow Weakley (2022), but caution that not all specimens will key cleanly. Apparently, var. boottii does not occur in NC, but from SC south and west.
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| Other Common Name(s) | Vasey's Goldenrod | |
| State Rank | S5? | |
| Global Rank | G5T4 | |
| State Status | | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | | |
| USACE-emp | | |
