Kingdom: Plantae

Phylum: Magnoliophyta -- flowering plants

Class: Magnoliopsida -- dicotyledons

Order: Asterales

Family: Asteraceae -- sunflower

Variety: Depending on the author, a number of varieties may be recognizied. The varieties are often vague and intergradient. Some taxonomists recognize two of the more distinct varieties, var. lepida (DC.) Cronquist and var. salebrosa (Piper) M.E. Jones at the species level as Solidago lepida var. lepida and Solidago lepida var. salebrosa.

Common Name: Canada goldenrod, meadow goldenrod

Species Code: SOCA6

Origin: Native to moist, open places with deep soils in meadows, riparian areas, thickets, and open forests over much of North America.

Rare: no

Form: forb, perennial from rhizomes; roots fibrous; stems erect, branched above, 30-150 cm tall, varying from puberulent on the upper part and glabrous below to short-hairy throughout.

Mature height: 12-60 inches

Duration: perennial

Longevity: long-lived

Habitat Type: mesic prairie, forest

Wetland Indicator Status: FACU

Leaves: basal leaves early deciduous or lacking; lower cauline leaves reduced and also early deciduous; other cauline leaves alternate, numerous, crowded, 5-15 cm long by 5-22 mm wide, slightly reduced upward, lance-linear to narrowly lance-elliptic, sessile, tapering to the base, 3-nerved, margins serrate to entire.

Flowers: numerous, borne in a terminal panicle; involucre 2-5 mm high, bracts thin, attenuate, linear-lanceolate, from somewhat to strongly imbricate; ray flowers commonly 13 (10-17), 1-3 mm long, yellow; disc flowers yellow.

Flower color: yellow

Bloom: July, August, September

Bloom starts on: late July

Bloom ends on: late September

Fruit: achene, strigose, brown, 1-1.5 mm long; pappus consisting of numerous white hair-like bristles.

Characteristics:
Reproduces both sexually by seed and vegetatively by rhizomes.
S. lepida var. elongata in St. John 1963 and in Davis 1953. S. serotina, S. serotina salebrosa, and S. elongata in Piper & Beattie 1914.
The common phase in our area is Solidago canadensis var. salebrosa which is frequently treated as Solidago lepida var. salebrosa.
Fibrous rooted.
4,600,000 seeds/lb (USDA NRCS PLANTS Database 2009).
600,000-900,000 seeds/lb (Stevens et al 1996).
11,965 seeds/gram (Chirco & Turner 1986).
2,000,000 and 7,200,000 seeds/lb (Hassell et al 1993).
4,540,000 seeds/lb (Stevens 1957).
2n=18, 36 (Baldwin et al 2004).
x=9 (University of British Columbia 2003).
Disc flowers are perfect, ray flowers are pistillate.
Plants were used medicinally by native peoples. Flowers were a source of yellow dye.
Solidago species are sometimes associated with hay fever, but the association is unjustified (Werner et al 1980).
Fruit is an achene.
Seeds are wind dispersed.
Rocky Mountain elk use Solidago spp. sparingly in the winter (Kufeld 1973). Cattle use the plants sparingly early in the spring. Sheep and goats use the plants more, especially in spring and early summer. Small mammals and deer forage on the plants and some birds eat the seed but it is not a highly valuable species for wildlife (Sedivec & Barker 1998). A large number of insects use the plants (Werner et al 1980).
Solidago canadensis has been introduced to Europe where it is considered an invasive species (van Kleunen 2003, van Kleunen & Schmid 2003).
Flowers are self incompatible (Werner et al 1980).
Honey bees (Apis mellifera), bumblebees (Bombus spp.), soldier beetles (Chauliognathus pennslyvanicus) and syrphid flies are the main pollinators although the flowers and plants are visited by a large number of other insects (Werner et al 1980).

Comments: S. canadensis invades old fields soon after abandonment and genet population reaches equilibrium as plants age (Hartnett & Bazzaz 1985a). Ramets retain the connection to the parent and prevent invasion of other species into the patch (Hartnett & Bazzaz 1985b).

Sun requirement: full sun to light partial shade

Soil moisture: mesic

Precipitation: 16-60 inches (USDA NRCS PLANTS Database 2009).

Fire: Rhizomes survive all but the most severe fires. Recolonizes from surviving rhizomes and from the seed bank (Coladonato 1993).

Sowing time: spring or fall

Transplant time: spring

Stratification: none required

Seed yield: high

Seed harvest: easy

Seed first harvest: no information available

Seed cleaning: medium difficulty

Planting duration: long

Seed insect problem: none noted

Seed shatter: medium

Seed size: small

Seed harvest date: October

Seed comments: seed is windborne

Herbaria: Specimen data and digital resources from The Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria

Keywords: native upland perennial forb

Propagation:
4 protocols in the Native Plant Network
Glacier National Park, Montana
Big Flats Plant Materials Center, Corning, New York
National Plant Materials, Beltsville, Maryland
Manhattan Kansas Plant Materials Center

Other Propagation Information:
Prechill for 5-7 days at 10^oC in light, then germinate at 20-30 or 15-25^o C (Chirco & Turner 1986).
Seed germinates best between 20 and 25^oC. Can also be propagated from rhizomes (Buhler & Hoffman 1999).
Sow 20-30 seeds/linear foot on the soil surface to ¼ inch deep. Seed has a 30 day after-ripening requirement (Stevens et al 1996).
Easy to grow from seed or pieces of a rhizome (Kruckeberg 1996).
Fresh seed germinates well but 90 days of after-ripening increases germination (Werner et al 1980).
Reproduces both sexually by seed and vegetatively by rhizomes.

Notes: Solidago canadensis has masses of bright yellow flowers on tall (4-5 feet) stems. Blooms in late summer and early fall, which is rare among Palouse natives. Needs a moist site. It spreads by rhizomes and is probably too aggressive for a yard or garden. Might have a place in a more wild area. The tall stems tend to flop over when in bloom. Pinching back once or twice during the growing season will keep the plants shorter and stockier. Common names include Canada goldenrod, tall goldenrod (Skinner et al 2005).

References:
Baldwin, B.G., S. Boyd, B.J. Ertter, D.J. Keil, R.W. Patterson, T.J. Rosatti, and D.H. Wilken (eds). 2004. Jepson Online Interchange for California Floristics. University and Jepson Herbaria, University of California, Berkeley, CA. Accessed 12/8/09 online at http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/interchange.html

Buhler, Douglas D., and Melinda L. Hoffman. 1999. Andersen's Guide to Practical Methods of Propagating Weeds and Other Plants. Weed Science Society of America. Lawrence, Kansas. 248 pp.

Chirco, Ellen, and Terry Turner. 1986. Species Without AOSA Testing Procedures. The Newsletter of the Association of Official Seed Analysts 60(2):2-66.

Coladonato, Milo. 1993. Solidago canadensis. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/ [2009, December 10].

Davis, Ray J. 1952. Flora of Idaho. Wm. C. Brown, Dubuque, Iowa. 827 pp.

Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. 1993+. Flora of North America North of Mexico. 7+ vols. New York and Oxford. Oxford University Press. Online at http://www.fna.org/FNA/

Hartnett, D.C., and F.A. Bazzaz. 1985a. The Integration of Neighborhood Effects by Clonal Genets in Solidago canadensis. Journal of Ecology 73:415-427.

Hartnett, D.C., and F.A. Bazzaz. 1985b. The Genet and Ramet Population Dynamics of Solidago canadensis in an Abandoned Field. Journal of Ecology 73:407-413.

Hassell, Wendell, W. Rocky Beavers, Steve Ouellette, and Thomas Mitchell. 1996. Seeding Rate Statistics for Native and Introduced Species. US Department of Interior and US Department of Agriculture, NRCS. Denver, CO.

Hitchcock, C. Leo, Arthur Cronquist, Marion Ownbey, and J.W. Thompson. 1969. Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press. Seattle, WA. 5 vol.

Kufeld, Roland. 1973. Foods Eaten by the Rocky Mountain Elk. Journal of Range Management 26:106-113.

Kruckeberg, Arthur R. 1996. Gardening with Native Plants of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press. Seattle, WA.

Piper, C.V., and R.K. Beattie. 1914. The Flora of Southeastern Washington and Adjacent Idaho. Press of the New Era Printing Company, Lancaster, PA. 296 pp.

Sedivec, Kevin K., and William T. Barker. 1998. Selected North Dakota and Minnesota Range Plants. North Dakota State University Department of Animal and Range Sciences Extension Bulletin EB-69. Fargo, North Dakota. Online at http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/ansci/range/eb69-2.htm. Accessed 12/10/09.

Skinner, David M., Paul Warnick, Bill French, and Mary Fauci. 2005. Characteristics and Uses of Native Palouse Forbs in Landscaping. USDA NRCS Pullman Plant Materials Center and Palouse Prairie Foundation. Online at http://www.wsu.edu/pmc_nrcs/Docs/Forbs_for_Landscaping.pdf

St. John, Harold. 1963. Flora of Southeastern Washington and of Adjacent Idaho. 3rd edition. Outdoor Pictures. Escondido, CA.

Stevens, O.A. 1957. Weights of Seeds and Numbers Per Plant. Weeds 5:46-55.

Stevens, Richard, Kent R. Jorgensen, Stanford A. Young, and Stephen B. Monsen. 1996. Forb and Shrub Seed Production Guide for Utah. Utah State Univ. Extension AG501. Online at http://extension.usu.edu/files/agpubs/f&sguide.pdf

University of British Columbia. 2003. British Columbia Flora. University of British Columbia Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research. Accessed 9/1/09 online at http://www.bcflora.org/

USDA NRCS. 2009. The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov, 8 December 2009). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

van Kleunen, Mark, and Bernhard Schmid. 2003. No Evidence for an Evolutionary Increased Competitive Ability in an Invasive Plant. Ecology 84:2816.

van Kleunen, Mark. 2003. Solidago canadensis: a North American Native Plant Invading Europe. Menziesia, Newsletter of the NPSBC Native Plant Society of British Columbia 8(3):8-9.

Werner, Patricia A., Ian K Bradbury, and Ronald S. Gross. 1980. The Biology of Canadian Weeds; 45. Solidago canadensis L. Canadian Journal of Plant Science 60:1393-1409.

Links:
Plant Profile from the USDA PLANTS Database
Species account from the Fire Effects Information System
Species description for S. lepida from Flora of North America
Species description for S. canadensis from Flora of North America
Species information for S. lepida from the University of Washington Herbarium