Solidago mollis (Velvety Goldenrod) - photos and description
Plants are puberulent.
Upper stem leaf in above photo.
Leaf mid-stem in above photo.
Lower stem leaf in above photo.
Origin: Native.
General: Upright perennials with simple stems. Plants covered in fine hairs (puberulent), giving the leaves a light green or even greyish-green look. Plants rhizomatous.
Flowers: Inflorescence is a pyramidal to club shaped panicle of yellow flowers, flowers appear early August. Flower panicle measured at 5 cm tall and 4 cm wide.
Leaves: Leaves are cauline (no basal leaves), oblanceolate to elliptical, thick, dentate, alternate, and reduced in size upwards. Lower leaves petiolate, topmost leaves sessile. Topmost leaf measured at 25 mm long by 10 mm wide; leaf mid-stem measured at 40 mm long by 15 mm wide (including petiole); lower stem leaf measured at 55 mm long by 15 mm wide (including petiole).
Height: Height listed in Budd's Flora to 50 cm, we measured plants to 54 cm tall.
Habitat: Dry grassland and roadsides.
Abundance: Common.
How to identify this species: Identifying species of Solidago is not easy, but here goes... 1) leaves only 2-3 times as long as wide (Flora of Alberta) leaves of S. altissima, S. lepida are longer for it we've measured a length-width ratio of 4 times as long as wide 2) Plants 1-4 dm tall S. canadensis is a bigger plant, 4-12 dm high (Flora of Alberta) 3) Plants puberulent, S. altissima and S. lepida are pubescent. 3) Leaves greyish-green 4) no basal leaves, plants rhizomatous, S. rigida has basal leaves and a branched caudex rather than rhizomes (Manual of Montana Vascular Plants) 5) S. mollis has a pyramidal inflorescence while S. rigida has a more flat-topped, corymbiform inflorescence.
When and where photographed: Took the above photos August 10th, prairie pasture amid wolf willow, Parklands, about 50 km east of our home in Regina, SK.