Solidago nemoralis
           
Showy Goldenrod

Middle Stem Leaf Bottom Close-Up

Lac des Isles in Meadow Lake Provincial Park
13-August-2008

Note the fine pubescence.

bullet

Nemoralis: Answers to key questions in Budd's Flora (BF)  and Flora of Alberta (FOA) leading to this species. 
bullet

plants mostly 1-4 dm tall (FOA)

bullet

plants generally TALLER than 0.5-2.0  dm (FOA)

bullet

stems mostly pubescent or puberulent; NOT [stems mostly glabrous below the inflorescence]

bullet

stems minutely gray pubescent

bullet

leaves pubescent or puberulent; NOT [leaves glabrous]

bullet

leaves minutely gray pubescent

bullet

basal leaves often forming a rosette

bullet

basal leaves much longer than stem leaves; NOT [basal leaves not much longer than stem leaves, seldom forming a rosette]

bullet

petiole of the basal leaves (if present) NOT conspicuously ciliate

bullet

lower stem leaves well developed

bullet

lower stem leaves oblanceolate

bullet

stem leaves sparse, often distant, reduced upwards

bullet

stem leaves linear to linear-lanceolate

bullet

inflorescence a panicle or spike; NOT [inflorescence corymbose, with the branches slanting upward, forming a rounded or flat-topped inflorescence] (BF)

bullet

inflorescence a panicle with more or less spreading or arching branches; NOT [inflorescence racemose with branches ascending along the stem, inflorescence more or less cylindrical or narrowly oval] (BF)

bullet

heads usually racemose, the inflorescence cylindrical to narrowly oval, or paniculate, with spreading or arching branches; NOT [heads corymbose, the inflorescence rounded or flat-topped] (FOA)

bullet

heads often secund on the branches

 

bullet

Solidago: Answers to key questions in Budd's Flora and Flora of Alberta leading to this genus.
bullet

plants with fibrous roots; NOT [plants with a taproot]

bullet

juice watery; NOT [plants with a milky or sticky sap]

bullet

leaves alternate or basal; NOT [leaves opposite]

bullet

leaves simple, NOT pinnatifid or divided

bullet

leaves NEVER spinescent

bullet

heads small and numerous, in terminal or axillary clusters; NOT [heads usually solitary at ends of branches]

bullet

involucral bracts in 2 or more series; NOT [involucral bracts usually one series]

bullet

involucral bracts well-imbricated; NOT [involucral bracts not or scarcely imbricated]

bullet

receptacle naked

bullet

flower heads with florets both tubular and ray; NOT [flower heads with all florets tubular]

bullet

ray florets pistillate or neuter; NOT [ray florets perfect]

bullet

ray florets yellow; NOT [ray florets usually pink, purple, blue, or white]

bullet

stamens united to form a tube around the pistil

bullet

pappus wholly or partly of capillary bristles, sometimes plumose; NOT [pappus chaffy, or of scales, or of firm awns, or a crown, or none]

bullet

pappus single, bristles sometimes unequal but not distinctly divided into an inner and outer series of two lengths; NOT [pappus double, bristles of the outer series inconspicuous, distinctly shorter than the inner]