Solidago rigida
 
Stiff Goldenrod

Early Flower Head Top

Hidden Valley Sanctuary,
Approximately 15 Miles North of Regina in the Qu'Appelle Valley

26-August-2014

bullet

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

plants generally taller; NOT [plants mostly 0.5-2.0 (3.0) dm tall]

bullet

stems rigid

bullet

stems gray puberulent; NOT [stem glabrous]

bullet

leaves firm

bullet

leaves very rough

bullet

leaves gray pubescent; NOT [leaves glabrous]

bullet

petiole of the basal leaves NOT conspicuously ciliate

bullet

inflorescence corymbose, with the branches slanting upward, forming a rounded or flat-topped inflorescence; NOT [inflorescence a panicle or spike], NOT [inflorescence usually racemose, the inflorescence cylindrical to narrowly oval, or paniculate, with spreading or arching branches, the heads often secund]

bullet

involucral bracts striate

bullet

ray florets usually less than 5 mm long; NOT [ray florets large, 5-8 mm long]

bullet

ray florets yellow

 

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 [juice milky]

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, well-imbricated; NOT [involucral bracts usually one series, not or scarcely imbricated (overlapping like shingles)] (BF)

bullet

involucral bracts either imbricate in several series, or broad and somewhat leafy, or both; NOT [involucral bracts uniseriate, equal, narrow, commonly with a few much shorter outer ones at the base] (FOA)

bullet

receptacle naked

bullet

flower heads with florets both tubular and ray (radiate heads)

bullet

ligulate flowers pistillate or neuter; NOT [ligulate flowers perfect]

bullet

ray florets yellow

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 firm awns, scales, 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]