Vascular Plants of North Carolina
Section: Common Name: Scientific Name: Family:
Account for Appalachian Goldenrod - Solidago flaccidifolia   Small
Members of Asteraceae:
Members of Solidago with account distribution info or public map:
Flora of SE USGoogle Images
Section 6 » Order Asterales » Family Asteraceae
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AuthorSmall
DistributionPresent over nearly all of the Mountains, from the VA border to the GA border; but it does not occur downstate. A somewhat recent split from the much more common S. curtisii.

VA to KY, south to GA and AL; disjunct to north-central MS.
AbundanceUncommon to locally common, but perhaps overlooked by some biologists as S. caesia or S. curtisii if they are not aware of this taxonomically troubling species. The NCNHP has a rather unhelpful State Rank of SU (undetermined); the website editors suggest a rank of S3? for now, as there are records for most of the Mountain counties (correctly or not).
HabitatMesic to moist slope forests, rocky slopes, ravines. The Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora website mentions that most records in that state are in forests over limestone, and thus favoring high pH soil. However, it is not evident that NC collection sites are in particularly rich, high pH soils.
PhenologyFlowering and fruiting September-October.
IdentificationAppalachian Goldenrod is very distinctive from all but a few other goldenrods in having flowering heads in small clusters in the axils of many of the stem leaves, and also terminally. Plants typically grow 2-3 feet tall. It very closely resembles Curtis's Goldenrod (S. curtisii) but differs in its broader and hairier stem leaves, typically only 2-3 times longer than wide, vs. 3-10 times longer than wide in the other species. Bluestem Goldenrod (S. caesia) has a similar inflorescence but has a glaucous stem color, as opposed to green, and it also has leaves 3-10 times longer than wide.
Taxonomic CommentsBy some treated as a variety under S. curtisii; by others lumped entirely.

Other Common Name(s)Mountain Goldenrod
State RankSU [S3?]
Global RankG5
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