White Goldenrod       

 

State Status * CT MA RI VT NH ME
P P P P P P

 

 

 

Ecology: Dry open woods; sandy or rocky soil
Blooming Period: August to September
Typical Height Range: 2' to 3'   (6 to 9 dm)

 

 What to look for in the field: 
   The capitulescence is often long and narrow, with numerous short branchlets either at the top of the stem or growing from nodes along the stem.  Robust plants may have a much broader, but open capitulescence, with several longer, straight, ascending branches.  Heads are crowded on branches, NOT in one-sided arrays.
   Stems are straight and densely pubescent, sometimes rough to the touch.
  Leaves are basally-disposed.  Basal and lower-most stem leaves are obovate, shallowly toothed, have long winged petioles, and may be present during flowering.  Mid- to upper stem leaves quickly become reduced in size upward, more oblanceolate or elliptic, untoothed, and have shorter winged petioles or lack petioles altogether (upper-most).
   Both ray and disc florets are WHITE.  The stamens are yellowish.  The slightly yellow coloration in the heads is due largely to the color of the stamens and pollen.  Phyllaries are whitish, with a distinct green patch near the tip.

[This is the only white-flowered goldenrod with a non-corymb-like capitulescence in New England.  Note that yellow-flowered variations of this species occur, but are less common.  They tend to have rays that are of a lighter, less intense shade of yellow than that of most of the other goldenrods.]

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* State status data obtained from the NatureServe website and from published state natural heritage data.  Click link for a list of state status codes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

12/31/2009