Downy goldenrod
Prepared by Jennifer L. D’Appollonio, Assistant Scientist, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469. Updated April 2019.
Scientific name: Solidago puberula Nutt.
Common name(s): downy goldenrod
Link(s): USDA PLANTS Profile, NPIN Profile, Go Botany
Images: (to see enlargements [PC]: click on image, then right click and choose “view image”)
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- branched individual
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- individual with one main stem, minute branching
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- basal rosette
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- leaf arrangement
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- stem has very short hairs
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- flowerbuds, early August
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- opening flowers, early August
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- late August
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- dense flower spikes
Description:
– perennial
-stems have fine hairs
-reaches 1-3 feet in height
-flowerheads are 3/8 inch tall, in a cluster roughly 1 inch wide
-leaves are
- simple
- alternate
– many goldenrod species in New England, and closely related species may hybridize. May be confused with S. nemoralis, whose flowerheads arch or nod at the apex; see left sidebar of Go Botany webpage
Habitat:
-sandy soils
-fields
-roadsides
-woodlands
Sources:
Go Botany. “Solidago Puberula Nutt.” Solidago Puberula (Downy Goldenrod): Go Botany, 2021, gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/solidago/puberula/.
Conneticut Botanical Society. “ Downy Goldenrod Solidago Puberula Nutt. .” Conneticut Plants, Mar. 2015, www.ct-botanical-society.org/Plants/view/577.