Home Flora of Missouri
Home
Name Search
Families
Volumes
!Solidago arguta Aiton Search in The Plant ListSearch in IPNISearch in Australian Plant Name IndexSearch in NYBG Virtual HerbariumSearch in Muséum national d'Histoire naturelleSearch in Type Specimen Register of the U.S. National HerbariumSearch in Virtual Herbaria AustriaSearch in JSTOR Plant ScienceSearch in SEINetSearch in African Plants Database at Geneva Botanical GardenAfrican Plants, Senckenberg Photo GallerySearch in Flora do Brasil 2020Search in Reflora - Virtual HerbariumSearch in Living Collections Decrease font Increase font Restore font
 

Published In: Hortus Kewensis; or, a catalogue . . . 3: 213. 1789. (Hort. Kew.) Name publication detailView in BotanicusView in Biodiversity Heritage Library
 

Project Name Data (Last Modified On 8/11/2017)
Acceptance : Accepted
Project Data     (Last Modified On 7/9/2009)
Status: Native

 

Export To PDF Export To Word

2. Solidago arguta Aiton

Pl. 239 a, b; Map 991

Plants with the rootstock short, stout, sometimes horizontal, branched or with offsets. Stems 1 or occasionally few, 40–120 cm long, erect or ascending, with several fine, longitudinal ridges or grooves but not noticeably angled, glabrous below the inflorescence or sparsely to moderately pubescent with spreading and/or curved hairs, not or only slightly shiny, not glaucous. Leaves basally disposed and usually persistent at flowering (additional rosettes usually present adjacent to the flowering stem). Basal and lowermost stem leaves with the blade 8–30 cm long, 4–10 cm wide, mostly 2–4 times as long as wide, broadly ovate to broadly elliptic, somewhat thickened, tapered fairly abruptly to the winged petiole at the base, rounded or more commonly tapered to a bluntly or sharply pointed tip, the margins finely to coarsely and sharply toothed, microscopically roughened, the upper surface glabrous or slightly to moderately roughened with forward-angled minute, stiff, stout hairs lacking a pustular base, the undersurface glabrous or moderately pubescent with mostly spreading hairs, with 1 main vein, the fine, pinnate secondary veins easily observed (these usually forming an irregular network). Median and upper stem leaves 1–8 cm long, lanceolate to elliptic or oblanceolate, sessile or short-petiolate, otherwise similar to the lower stem leaves. Inflorescences relatively dense and narrow to more commonly open and broad, pyramidal panicles (the lower branches sometimes elongate), the longer branches and occasionally also the tip usually somewhat arched or nodding, the heads oriented upward along the branches. Involucre 4–6 mm long, the bracts in 3–5 unequal series. Involucral bracts oblong-ovate to narrowly oblong and mostly rounded to bluntly pointed at the appressed-ascending tip (those of the outer series sometimes sharply pointed), the thin, white to yellowish white margins hairy, the outer surface glabrous, with a poorly differentiated green to light green central region mostly above the midpoint, this tapered gradually or not at all to the midvein, the midvein not or only slightly thickened, and no additional veins present. Receptacle naked. Ray florets 2–8, the corollas 4–6 mm long, yellow. Disc florets 8–20, the corollas 3.5–4.0 mm long, the lobes 0.5–1.5 mm long, yellow. Pappus 3.0–3.5 mm long, some of the bristles slightly thickened toward the tip. Fruits 1.5–2.0 mm long, narrowly obovoid, glabrous or finely hairy. 2n=18, 36. June–October.

Scattered in the Ozark and Ozark Border Divisions (eastern U.S. west to Illinois and Texas; Canada). Mesic to dry upland forests, glades, ledges and bases of bluffs, banks of streams and rivers, and occasionally bottomland forests.

Steyermark (1963) noted that this attractive species is a desirable addition to the wildflower garden. The taxonomy and nomenclature of the S. arguta group are complex and still not fully understood. Steyermark (1963) based his treatment of the group on extensive field and herbarium studies in the state, concluding that four elements could be recognized in Missouri, which he treated as varieties. Morton (1974) summarized and amended the taxonomic and nomenclatural conclusions developed in his doctoral research (Morton, 1973), which involved intensive field and herbarium studies across the range of the complex. He argued that the rare S. arguta var. neurolepis (Fernald) Steyerm. (described from plants collected at Oronogo, Jasper County, but also known from St. Francois County and to be expected elsewhere) actually represents a putative hybrid between S. arguta and S. ulmifolia, which he called S. Hneurolepis Fernald. Morton (1973, 1974) also examined the type specimen of S. boottii Hook. and concluded that this name had been misapplied. Steyermark (1963) and others had applied this name to plants with glabrous leaves and called plants with the leaf undersurface hairy S. arguta var. strigosa. However, the type specimen of S. boottii is a hairy-leaved plant, and the oldest name for this pubescent phase is var. boottii. The next oldest name for the glabrous-leaved plants that Steyermark called var. boottii is S. arguta var. caroliniana. According to Morton (1973), the epithet S. strigosa actually applies to a southeastern species, S. ludoviciana (A. Gray) Small, which does not occur in Missouri. Other infraspecific taxa recognized by Morton do not occur in Missouri. His taxonomy and nomenclature were adapted by Cronquist (1980) and Gleason and Cronquist (1991), whose treatments are followed here. The differences between the Missouri varieties are summarized in the key below. Note that vegetative material or plants in early flower cannot be determined satisfactorily below the species level in most cases.

 

Export To PDF Export To Word Export To SDD
Switch to indented key format
1 1. Fruits glabrous; stems glabrous or sparsely hairy toward the tip ... 2A. VAR. ARGUTA

Solidago arguta Aiton var. arguta
2 1. Fruits hairy; stems glabrous or sparsely to moderately hairy

3 2. Leaf blades hairy on the undersurface; stems sparsely to moderately hairy ... 2B. VAR. BOOTTII

Solidago arguta var. boottii
4 2. Leaf blades glabrous on the undersurface; stems glabrous below the inflorescence or rarely sparsely hairy toward the tip ... 2C. VAR. CAROLINIANA Solidago arguta var. caroliniana
 
 


 

 
 
© 2024 Missouri Botanical Garden - 4344 Shaw Boulevard - Saint Louis, Missouri 63110