White-haired goldenrod

Plants 28–60 cm; caudices woody. Stems 1–3+ , erect, flexuous in proximal arrays, moderately to densely villous. Leaves: basal withering by flowering; basal and proximal cauline abruptly tapering to winged, villous petioles (petioles ± ¹ / 2 or less total leaf length), blades broadly ovate to spatulate, 46–80(–90) × 23–47(–55) mm, margins serrate [teeth 6–12(–15)], abaxial faces moderately villous, more so along nerves, adaxial sparsely to moderately villoso-strigose; distal cauline petiolate, similar to proximal or more elliptic, 27–45 × 13–20 mm, margins entire to slightly serrate. Heads 10–30, in short axillary and terminal racemiform/paniculiform clusters. Peduncles 3–5 mm, sparsely strigose; bracteoles 1–3 scattered, ovate. Involucres campanulate, 4.3–6.5(–7) mm. Phyllaries in ca. 3 series, unequal, outer ovate, 1–1.5 mm, obtuse to acute, inner oblong, 1-nerved. Ray florets 3–5; laminae 2.4–4 × 1–1.5 mm. Disc florets 5–8; corollas 2.2–2.5 mm, lobes ca. 1–2 mm. Cypselae (obconic) 1–2 mm, moderately hairy; pappi 2.3–2.8 mm. 2n = 36.

Flowering Sep. Sandstone "rockhouses" (semicircular recesses which extend back under cliff overhangs, typically shaded and damp); of conservation concern; ± 400 m; Ky.

Solidago albopilosa is found along the Red River Gorge in Menifee, Powell, and Wolfe counties. It is most similar to S. flexicaulis; it appears weaker and smaller than plants of S. flexicaulis that grow nearby, outside of the rockhouses. Its biology and origins have been discussed in detail (J. R. Beaudry 1959; M. L. Andreasen and W. H. Eshbaugh 1973). Solidago albopilosa is listed as threatened by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Federal Register 1988).

SELECTED REFERENCE

Andreasen, M. L. and W. H. Eshbaugh. 1973. Solidago albopilosa Braun, a little known goldenrod from Kentucky. Castanea 38: 117–132.