Solidago squarrosa (Stout goldenrod)

Solidago squarrosa Nutt.

Stout goldenrod

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

Plants: Stems are stiffly erect, 1½–5′ (45–152 cm) high, often red.

Leaves: Egg-shaped, and toothed. They usually form a rosette of large leaves at the base. Leaves along the upper stem are small and narrow.

Flowers: Flowers form long clusters at the top of each stem. Each composite flower is closely attached to the stem, with 10-16 ray florets and 15-30 disc florets. At the base of each flower are green back-curved tiny leaflets (bracts), a key identifying feature.

Fruits: Flowers become small spherical arrangements of seeds on “parachutes,” called cypselae, like dandilions gone to seed. The cypselae are 1/32–1/16″ (1.5–2 mm) in diameter.

Habitats: Open fields; dry forests and woodlands.

Edibility: Not edible.

Online References:

Ontario Wildflowers

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

CalPhotos at the University of California, Berkeley

SEINet—the Southwest Environmental Information Network

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

10/6/2011 · Pack Monadnock, 2200', Peterborough, New Hampshire · ≈ 1 × 2′ (41 × 62 cm) ID is uncertain

9/19/2009 · Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, Maine · ≈ 10 × 7″ (24 × 18 cm) ID is uncertain

9/29/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Ayer, Massachusetts · ≈ 6 × 7″ (15 × 18 cm) ID is uncertain

10/6/2011 · Pack Monadnock, 2200', Peterborough, New Hampshire · ≈ 1 × 1½′ (31 × 43 cm) ID is uncertain

9/19/2009 · Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, Maine ID is uncertain

9/19/2009 · Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, Maine · ≈ 14 × 9″ (35 × 23 cm) ID is uncertain

9/29/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Ayer, Massachusetts · ≈ 7 × 11″ (18 × 27 cm) ID is uncertain

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	squarrosa	“Scaly or rough,” or “with the leaves spreading at right angles”

About plant names...

Range:

About this map...

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