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Solidago stricta Ait.Ìý(revised narrow sense; synonym,ÌýS. perlonga Fern.) is native to the pine barrens of southern New Jersey, the low wet sandy thickets of southeastern Virginia, and a few disjunct locations further south.Ìý Semple (2013) noted the misapplication of the name in multiple publications to what is correctly labeledÌýS. virgataÌýMichx.Ìý Under the nameÌýS. perlonga, it was incorrectly treated as a synonym ofÌýS. strictaÌýssp.ÌýgracillimaÌýin FNA ().Ìý The species is very different fromÌýS. gracillima which occurs in South Carolina, Georgia and Florida and has a very different looking large inflorescence.Ìý Plants ofÌýS. strictaÌýin the new narrow sense were included inÌýS. strictaÌýsensu Gray (1882) in some floras accounting for a distribution from New Jersey to Florida and west to Texas and Mexico.Ìý Semple (2012) noted the reduced distribution ofÌýS. strictaÌýbut incorrectly used the synonymÌýS. perlonga. The species labeledÌýS. strictaÌýin Semple (2012) isÌýS. virgata.Ìý And yes, this change in application of the name is unfortunate and most confusing even if one does pay attention to the sense labels and authority names.Ìý

Solidago strictaÌýwas included among the species in a multivariate analysis of the six species of the S. strictaÌýcomplex (Semple et al. 2016).Ìý Based on the results of the analysis, the range of S. stricta was extended to disjunct populations in South Carolina and likely near Tallahassee, Florida.

Solidago strictaÌýAit. (non auth.) has serrate basal rosette and lower stem leaves likeÌýS. austrina. The inflorescences of tall robust shoots have elongated ascending to ascending-arching branches, while small shoots from the same rhizome can have short, narrow inflorescences like those ofÌýS. virgata.Ìý New Jersey collections of the species from the 1800s are small andÌýS.Ìývirgata-like.Ìý In the multivariate study by Semple et al. (2016), robust plants ofÌýS. strictaÌýwere statistically distinct fromÌýS. virgataÌýandÌýS. austrina, but those with small shoots and short inflorescences were either weakly included inÌýS. stricta (new sense) or assigned toÌýS. virgataeven when the small shoot was known to be from the same individual as a large shoot assigned toÌýS. stricta.Ìý To obtain the correct identification, it is important to note that inflorescences of the most robust plants present can be broad and have long lowers, if one collects only the smaller plants with small inflorescences (Semple 2012).Ìý Only some of the collections from the Carolinas had large long-branched inflorescences.

Solidago strictaÌý(as correctly applied) is hexaploid (2n=54; Semple and Cook 2022).

Coastal New Jersey plants ofÌýS. uliginosaÌýwith longer-branched inflorescences can be confused withÌýS. stricta.Ìý In Torrey & Gray's Flora of North America (1842),ÌýS. uliginosaÌýwas treated as a synonym under an early misapplication of the nameÌýS. strictaÌýdue to a labeling error of a Canadian arctic specimen by Solander seen by Aiton (Gray 1882).

Last revised 11 April 2025 by J.C. SempleÌý

© 2025 J.C. Semple, including all photographs unless otherwise indicated