Solidago lepida (Western Goldenrod) - photos and description
Species is rhizomatous, a colony of S. lepida.
Leafy inflorescence example 1.
Leafy inflorescence example 2.
Leafy inflorescence example 3.
Stems with short, fine hairs.
Leaf underside; small hairs only on the nerves (and margins).
Above photo zoomed to maximum on computer. You can see longer hairs
on the nerve. On leaf surface may be tiny glandular hairs; not
visible with a 10x loupe.
Top of leaf appears hairless (as described in FNA).
Inflorescence in above photo, zoomed in to max in following photo.
Above photo zoomed to maximum on computer. On calyx may be tiny
glandular hairs; not visible with a 10x loupe.
This species has large leaves among Goldenrods, measured to 14.5 cm
long.
General: Tall perennial with single stems, a
pyramidal inflorescence, and leaves 4x long as wide. Plants
rhizomatous, stem is hairy with short, fine hairs, leaves glabrous on
top surface, small hairs on the nerves on the top surface, and margins.
Note: this species and Solidago altissima have been split by
taxonomists from Solidago canadensis. Solidago canadensis
as now described is not found in Saskatchewan, grows in eastern and
central Canada.
Flowers: Inflorescence is a pyramid-shaped panicle, the inflorescence is leafy. We measured a single flower at 4 mm diameter and 5 mm long, a panicle at 16 cm tall by 10 cm across. Minute glandular hairs can be found in the foliage of the inflorescence, so small that FNA states they can only be viewed with 30-70x magnification.
Leaves: Leaves are alternate and largest in the middle of the stem, sessile, lanceolate to elliptical, coarsely serrate. Leaf underside with small hairs only on the nerves (and margins); top of leaves more or less hairless. We measured a leaf mid-stem at 14.5 cm long by 3.2 cm wide.
Height: Height is listed in Flora of North America to 150 cm, we measured plants to 110 cm tall.
Habitat: Open woods, scrublands, and moist meadows. Dr. Semple of the University of Waterloo and author of the FNA treatment of S. lepida has published a North American range map for S. lepida (can be viewed on the U Waterloo link below). It shows S. lepida occurs in SK from the northern Parklands north to the Northwest Territories... north of a diagonal line from just south of Duck Mountain on the MB border west across SK to about Lloydminster on the AB border.
Abundance: Fairly common(?).
Origin: Native.
Similar species: Very similar to
Solidago gigantea which is
a taller goldenrod with a pyramidal inflorescence. However that species has glabrous stems,
while the stems of Solidago lepida are pubescent.
Somewhat similar to Solidago mollis which is also a taller
goldenrod with a pyramidal inflorescence. However that plant has leaves
only 2-3x as long as wide, and is covered in fine hairs (puberulent)
making its foliage velvety to touch and giving it a greyish-green
appearance.
And, very similar to
Solidago altissima
which was split from Solidago canadensis
along with Solidago lepida
(the plant described on this page).
To distinguish between
S. altissima and S.
lepida (from the FNA key) it’s
the hairiness of the leaves and leafiness of the inflorescence:
- S. altissima leaves
moderately to densely villous or strigillose, sometimes more so on
abaxial (leaf bottom surface) nerves...
(leaves moderately or densely hairy)
- Solidago lepida leaves glabrous
or sparsely villoso-strigillose, more so abaxially than adaxially (leaf
top surface), especially along main nerves... (leaves hairless or
sparsely hairy)
- The FNA species description of S. lepida
states its inflorescence usually leafy while the inflorescence of
S. altissima is not described
as leafy. We observed this with both species.
-
Also, S. lepida has varying degrees of minute glandular hairs
in its inflorescence and upper leaves, however FNA states a 30x-70x
magnification is needed to see them. We use a good 10x loupe and
examined many flower heads but couldn’t see any glandular hairs, I
guess not enough magnification. So no help in identification.
Vascular Flora of Alberta states S. altissima "stems
often with large (1-3 cm) insect galls, S. lepida stems rarely
with galls". The day we photographed these plants we saw dozens of these
Solidago plants, no galls on any stems, so no help.
S. canadensis is still described by taxonomists, but Dr. Semple
of the U of Waterloo states S. canadensis as it's now described
is not found in Saskatchewan, it is found in Eastern and Central Canada.
More information:
University of Waterloo Astereae Lab. (Dr. Semple of the Astereae Lab
is one of the authors of the Solidago treatment in FNA).
Flora of North America (FNA).
When and where photographed: We took the above photos August 6th, boreal forest in Duck Mountain Provincial Park, about 300 km northeast of our home in Regina, SK.