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Key to Solidago, Key B: Key to "axillary forest goldenrods" -- with stem leaves dominant (mostly) and heads axillary to well-developed leaves
[subgenus Pleiactila, section Glomeruliflorae

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Show caption*© Joey Shaw 1 Leaves typically basally disposed, but if flowering stems with leaves primarily cauline, plants clonal with many stemless basal rosettes; involucres 10-11 mm high  Solidago glomerata

Show caption*© Michael John Oldham, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Michael John Oldham 1 Leaves primarily cauline; involucres 3.5-9 mm high.

Show caption*© Nate Hartley, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Nate Hartley   2 Stem terete, glaucous.

3 Lower midstem leaves narrowly lanceolate, 5-15 cm long, 0.8-3 cm wide, 5-6× as long as wide; stems strongly arching; plants growing singly; [widespread in our area]  Solidago caesia

3 Lower midstem leaves broadly lanceolate to rhombic, 5-9 cm long, 1.3-2.4 cm wide, 3-4× as long as wide; stems weakly arching; plants usually strongly clonal, forming relatively dense patches; [Coastal Plain, NC to FL, west to LA and AR]  Solidago zedia

2 Stem striate-angled, green.

4 Larger leaf blades on a plant 2-6 cm long; stems densely villous with spreading white hairs; [endemic to sandstone rockhouses in the Red River Gorge in Menifee, Powell, and Wolfe counties, KY]  Solidago albopilosa

4 Larger leaf blades on a plant 8-20 cm long; stems glabrous or sparsely to moderately hairy, the hairs neither long nor white; [of various dry and mesic habitats, collectively widespread in our area].

5 Leaves 1-3 (-3.5)× as long as wide.

6 Leaves 1-2.2 (-2.5)× as long as wide, abruptly contracted to a winged petiole; teeth of the leaf margins elongate and narrow, acuminate, mostly (2-) 3-8 mm long (as measured on the upper side of the tooth)  Solidago flexicaulis

6 Leaves (2.2-) 2.5-3 (-3.5)× as long as wide, cuneate to a sessile base; teeth of the leaf margins not notably elongate and narrow, mostly 1-2 (-3) mm long (as measured on the upper side of the tooth), but sometimes longer and more like S. flexicaulis

7 Achenes sparsely to moderately strigose; ray flowers 2-4 (-6); [Appalachian, east of the Mississippi River]  Solidago flaccidifolia

7 Achenes glabrous; ray flower 1; [Ouachitas, AR and OK]  Solidago ouachitensis

5 Leaves 3-10× as long as wide.

Show caption*© brettaugust, some rights reserved (CC BY)                8 Plants solitary; involucres (5-) 5.6-7 (-8) high, eglandular; phyllaries 0.7-1 mm wide, usually 1-nerved; stems 4-9 (-10) dm tall; ray flowers 2-4 (-6); [broadly Appalachian]  Solidago curtisii

Show caption*© Gary P. Fleming                8 Forming dense, clonal colonies from thick, creeping rhizomes; involucres 6.4-8.5 (-9) high, glandular pubescent; phyllaries 1-1.5 mm wide, usually 3-10-nerved; stems (2-) 7-16 dm tall; ray flowers 5-8; [apparently restricted to high elevations in the Blue Ridge of w. NC, e. TN, and sw. VA]  Solidago lancifolia