Solidago uliginosa Nutt.
Bog goldenrod
Bog goldenrod is a native of North America, preferring bogs, fens, and cedar or other conifer swamps. For a comparison chart of some of the varieties of goldenrods, see Solidago.
Plants: Plants are perennials, and are 12–47″ (30–120 cm) high. They are found in bogs and swamps, an identifying feature (since most goldenrods prefer dry land). Stems are round, not four-sided as in some goldenrods, and smooth (hairless).
Leaves: Leaves at the base of the plant are up to 1′ (30 cm) long and about one eighth as wide, and finely toothed. All leaves are smooth on top. The base of each leaf is clasping—it wraps partly around the stem.
Flowers: The yellow flowerheads, up to 7″ (17 cm) long, form a tight conical cluster at the top of the plant. Each composite flower has 1-8 moderately conspicuous ray florets and 6-8 disc florets. They 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 ~1/32″ (0.8–1.3 mm) in diameter.
Habitats: Bogs and swamps.
Edibility: Not edible.
Online References:
References:
9/11/2012 · Mt. Watatic, Ashburnham, Massachusetts · ≈ 9 × 13″ (22 × 33 cm) 
9/11/2012 · Mt. Watatic, Ashburnham, Massachusetts · ≈ 7 × 11″ (18 × 28 cm) 
8/11/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 6 × 7″ (14 × 17 cm) 
ID is uncertain 
8/11/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts · ≈ 7 × 8″ (18 × 21 cm) ID is uncertain 
8/11/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, 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 | uliginosa | "Growing in marshes" (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
Solidago uliginosa description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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