Eastern Late Goldenrod
Solidago altissimaÌý±¹²¹°ù.Ìýaltissima is the very common late flowering goldenrod of fields, disturbed areas, and roadside in much of eastern North America from southeastern Manitoba to New Brunswick south to eastern Oklahoma and northern Georgia. It is distinguished by its broadly secund pyramidal inflorescence from ±¹²¹°ù.Ìýpluricephala which typically has an elongated often narrow secund pyramidal inflorescence. It has been treated as S. canadensisÌý±¹²¹°ù.Ìýscabra (Muhl.) Torr. & A. Gray. It is hexploid (2n=54) throughout its range with a few tetraploids (2n=36) reported from the southwestern corner of the range (Semple 2022; see map for S. altissima).
Solidago altissimaÌý±¹²¹°ù.Ìýaltissima has naturalized in China and Japan and can be locally common and an aggressive invader. It is hexaploid in eastern Asia. Semple & Uesugi (2017) confirmed the presence of ±¹²¹°ù.Ìýaltissima in New Zealand.
Semple, J.C. and A. Uesugi. 2017.  Solidago altissimaÌý±¹²¹°ù.Ìýpluricephala (Asteraceae: Astereae) in Australia, Tonga and Hawaii. Phytoneuron 2017-40: 1–16.Â
Semple, J.C. 2022. The cytogeography of Solidago altissima in North America (Asteraceae: Astereae). Phytoneuron. 2022-17: 1-14.
Last revised 14 April 2025 by J.C. Semple
© 2025 J.C. Semple, including all photographs unless otherwise indicated
1-8. Solidago altissimaÌý±¹²¹°ù. altissima. 1. Large plant, À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ R.M., Ontario. 2. Stem, Semple & Suripto 9737, Pitt Co., North Carolina. 3. Mid to upper stem ball galls, Ontario. 4. Inflorescence, À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ R.M., Ontario. 5. Greenhouse grown shoot with basal stem leaves, Morton & Venn s.n., Iowa. 6. Mid upper stem leaves, adaxial and abaxial faces. 7. Abaxial leaf veins, Ontario. 8. Flowering heads, Ontario.