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Key to Solidago, Key D: Key to "rugosa goldenrods" -- with pinnately-veined stem leaves dominant and well-developed paniculiform inflorescences [subgenus Pleiactila; section Venosae]
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2 Leaf venation not notably reticulate; plants to 12 dm tall, from a compact caudex; [subgenus Pleiactila, section Venosae, subsection Ulmifoliae]. | |
4 Midstems densely pubescent; midstem leaves with attenuate to rounded bases; midvein of phyllaries as wide or wider than the tissue on each side (midveins of phyllaries equal or greater than 1/3 the phyllary width; [mainly Interior Highlands of AR and MO, rarely disjunct eastwards] | |
4 Midstems glabrous to sparsely pubescent; midstem leaves acuminate; midvein of phyllaries narrower than the tissue on each side (midveins of phyllaries 1/3 to 1/5 the phyllary width); [widespread in our region] | |
2 Leaves pinnately veined and also forming a prominent reticulum, the veins (primary, secondary, and tertiary) very evidently raised on the undersurface (less obviously so in S. fistulosa); plants to 30 (-40) dm tall, from long-creeping rhizomes, thus forming clonal patches; [subgenus Pleiactila, section Venosae, subsection Venosae]. | |
6 Involucres 4-6 mm high; broader phyllaries 0.7-1.2 mm wide; stems glabrous below the inflorescence; mid-stem leaves elliptic (widest near the middle) | |
6 Involucres (2-) 2.5-3.5 (4.5) mm high; phyllaries mostly < 0.5 mm wide; stems hairy or glabrous below the inflorescence; mid-stem leaves lanceolate to ovate (widest below the middle). | |
8 Stem glabrous throughout (except for scattered hairs in inflorescence), stem with striate ridges decurrent from leaf bases; leaf blades appressed serrate (teeth short), blades glabrous beneath except for sparse, short, appressed, straight hairs; early blooming (1 month earlier than S. rugosa in same area); [permanently saturated, ± forested wetlands with Sphagnum moss, such as red maple-Atlantic white cedar swamps, streamhead pocosins, montane bogs] | |
8 Stem pubescent with crinkly hairs throughout (occasional plants varying to glabrate below), stem without striate ridges decurrent from leaf bases; leaf blades sharply serrate (teeth coarse), blades villous to crinkly hairy beneath; late blooming (ca. 1 month later than S. aestivalis in same area); [dry to moist fields, meadows, and other open habitats] | |
10 Upper stem leaves ovate, much reduced relative to leaves lower on the stem |
Key to Solidago, Key E: Key to "tall goldenrods" -- with 3-veined stem leaves dominant and secund paniculiform inflorescences [subgenus Pleiactila; section Unilaterales (in part)]
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3 Rootstock short and branched, not producing creeping rhizomes; ray flowers 5-8; receptacle lacking intercalated green bracts (resembling phyllaries) inward from the rays; mid and upper stem leaves usually lacking axillary fascicles of smaller leaves; [subgenus Pleiactilis, section Unilaterales, subsection Radulae] | |
3 Rootstock producing creeping rhizomes; ray flowers 7-13; receptacle often with a few intercalated green bracts (resembling phyllaries) inward from the rays; mid and upper stem leaves usually with axillary fascicles of smaller leaves; [subgenus Pleiactilis, section Unilaterales, subsection Junceae] | |
1 Upper stem hairy (above the midpoint, up to the branches of the inflorescence), variously puberulent, strigillose to strigose, villous, or scabrous. | |
6 Leaf surfaces with appressed (strigillose) hairs; upper stem vestiture densely strigose, the stems appearing grayish-green; rhizomes long-creeping, the plants forming clonal patches; [OK and nc. TX westwards and northwestwards] | |
6 Leaf surfaces scabrous; upper stem vestiture scabrous to loosely puberulent, the stems appearing green or dingy green; rhizomes short (less commonly moderately creeping); [se. KS, OK, and TX eastwards] | |
7 Rays 2-8; midstem leaves 4-15 mm wide, mostly 6-20× as long as wide, either twisted at base or not. | |
8 Larger mid-stem leaves lanceolate to narrowly elliptic, 7-10 cm long, 10-15 mm wide; leaves not twisted; [KY and s. IN]; [subgenus Pleiactilis, section Unilaterales, subsection Canadensae] | |
7 Rays 4-17 (-24); midstem leaves 5-30 mm wide, 4-12× as long as wide, not twisted at base. | |
12 Mid-stem leaves serrate, the teeth 3-8 (-10) per side, the largest > 1.5 mm long; involucres 1.7-2.5 (-3.0) mm high. | |
14 Stem short pilose to puberulent; leaves usually noticeably less hairy above
than beneath and often darker colored above, with ascending-appressed
hairs on the upper surfaces; [collectively widespread]. | |
15 Upper surface of the leaves moderately to densely pubescent with short, curved to spreading hairs; [western] | |
16 Inflorescence broad; upper stem leaves not reduced in size relative to the mid-stem leaves; [broadly eastern] | |
16 Inflorescence elongated, narrow; upper stem leaves reduced; [southern] |