Montana Field Guide

Plants: Perennial with a creeping rhizome (McGregor et al. 1986) and without a definite caudex (Hitchcock et al. 1955); herbage densely puberulent (Lesica 2012) throughout but may be almost glabrous near the stem’s base, grayish-green; stems one to a few, loosely clustered (McGregor et al. 1986).

Leaves: Thick, both surfaces canescent (covered with white or greyish hairs); basal leaves absent; the lower reduced cauline leaves falling early; the bigger mid-stem leaves abundant and crowded, scarcely to conspicuously reduced above, oval, lacking a petiole (or lower ones obovate with merely a hint of a petiole), 3–10 cm in length, 1-4 cm in width, the length 2 ½ to 5 times the width (Hitchcock et al. 1955), irregularly toothed to nearly entire (McGregor et al. 1986), the apex rounded or acute (Hitchcock et al. 1955), and the larger leaves conspicuously 3-nerved (McGregor et al. 1986).

Inflorescence & Heads: Inflorescence a dense, somewhat elongate panicle, or sometimes more compressed (McGregor et al. 1986), ovoid to conical with branches pointing toward one side. Involucres bell-shaped, 3–5 mm high; phyllaries lanceolate to oblanceolate (Lesica 2012), rounded or nearly acute (McGregor et al. 1986), ciliate (Lesica 2012) or glabrous, overlapping, typically 3.5-6 mm tall, the wider ones about 0.8-1.3 mm across (Hitchcock et al. 1955).

(Lesica’s contribution adapted from Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX)

Flowers July-October (McGregor et al. 1986).

Unlike Velvety Goldenrod, the similar Rigid Goldenrod, Solidago rigida, has basal leaves. It also has a branched caudex instead of rhizomes (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

Dry or drying grasslands and meadows (McGregor et al. 1986), sagebrush steppe, coniferous woodlands; plains, valleys (Lesica 2012).

(Lesica’s contribution from Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX)

POLLINATORS
The following animal species have been reported as pollinators of this plant species or its genus where their geographic ranges overlap: Bombus vagans, Bombus appositus, Bombus bifarius, Bombus borealis, Bombus fervidus, Bombus flavifrons, Bombus huntii, Bombus melanopygus, Bombus mixtus, Bombus nevadensis, Bombus rufocinctus, Bombus ternarius, Bombus terricola, Bombus sitkensis, Bombus occidentalis, Bombus pensylvanicus, Bombus bimaculatus, Bombus griseocollis, Bombus impatiens, Bombus insularis, Bombus suckleyi, Bombus bohemicus, Bombus flavidus, and Bombus kirbiellus (Plath 1934, Heinrich 1976, Thorp et al. 1983, Johnson 1986, Shaw and Taylor 1986, Mayer et al. 2000, Colla and Dumesh 2010, Colla et al. 2011, Koch et al. 2012, Williams et al. 2014, Tripoldi and Szalanski 2015).

Flowers: Ray florets fertile, yellow, 6 to 10 (commonly 8) (McGregor et al. 1986), 3-4 mm in length (Hitchcock et al. 1955); ligules 1–3 mm in length; disk flowers 3 to 8 (Lesica 2012), perfect and fertile (McGregor et al. 1986); corollas 2–5 mm in length (Lesica 2012).

Fruit: Achenes 1–2 mm in length, strigose (Lesica 2012) or appressed hairy; pappus of white capillary bristles (McGregor et al. 1986).

(Lesica’s contribution adapted from Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX)