11. Solidago juncea Aiton (early goldenrod)
S. juncea f. scabrella (Torr. & A.
Gray) Fernald
Pl. 243 c–e; Map
1000
Plants with the
rootstock usually relatively short, stout, horizontal, branched, and often
rhizomatous, sometimes also with deep-set, longer-creeping rhizomes. Stems 1 to
few, 30–120 cm long, erect or ascending, with several fine, longitudinal lines
or grooves, glabrous below the inflorescence (rarely sparsely and
inconspicuously hairy along the inflorescence branches), not shiny, not
glaucous. Leaves basally disposed and usually persistent at flowering
(additional rosettes often present adjacent to the flowering stem). Basal and
lowermost stem leaves with the blade 8–20(–35) cm long, 1.5–4.0(–8.0) cm wide,
mostly 5–8 times as long as wide, narrowly oblanceolate to narrowly
elliptic-obovate, not or only slightly thickened, tapered gradually to the
winged petiole at the base, angled or tapered to a sharply pointed tip, the
margins finely to coarsely and sharply toothed, microscopically roughened or
minutely hairy, the surfaces glabrous or rarely sparsely roughened or with a
few softer hairs, the undersurface with 1 main vein, the fine, pinnate
secondary veins usually easily observed (these and the veinlets forming an
irregular, dense network). Median and upper stem leaves 2–12 cm long,
lanceolate to narrowly elliptic or nearly linear, sessile or short-petiolate,
otherwise similar to the lower stem leaves. Inflorescences relatively dense and
narrow to relatively open and broad, pyramidal panicles (the lower branches
sometimes elongate), the longer branches and often also the tip arched or
nodding, the heads oriented upward along the branches. Involucre 3–5 mm long,
the bracts in 3 or 4 unequal series. Involucral bracts oblong-ovate to narrowly
oblong or narrowly lanceolate and bluntly to less commonly sharply pointed at
the appressed-ascending tip, the thin, white to yellowish white margins
sparsely hairy toward the tip, the outer surface glabrous, with a poorly
differentiated green to light green central region above the midpoint, this
tapered gradually to the midvein, the midvein not or only slightly thickened,
and no additional veins present. Receptacle usually with a few chaffy bracts
(similar to the involucral bracts but somewhat shorter) toward the margin. Ray
florets 7–12, the corollas 2.0–2.5 mm long, yellow. Disc florets 8–15, the corollas
2.5–3.5 mm long, the lobes 0.5–0.8 mm long, yellow. Pappus 2–3 mm long, some of
the bristles slightly thickened toward the tip. Fruits 1.0–1.5 mm long,
obovoid, sparsely hairy or rarely glabrous. 2n=18. June–October.
Scattered in the
southern half of the state and in the northeastern quarter (eastern U.S. west
to Minnesota and Louisiana; Canada). Upland prairies, glades, savannas, and
openings of mesic to dry forests; also railroads, roadsides, and open,
disturbed areas.