Stout goldenrod , verge d’or squarreuse

Aster muehlenbergianus Kuntze; Solidago squamosa Nuttall ex Hooker; S. squarrosa var. ramosa Peck

Plants 30–150 cm; caudices branching. Stems 1–5+, erect, glabrous proximal to arrays. Leaves: basal and proximal cauline tapering quickly to long, winged ciliate-margined petioles, blades ovate, 50–200 × 20–100 mm, margins serrate; mid to distal cauline sessile, blades oblanceolate, 30–100 × 8–35 mm, reduced distally and becoming lanceolate-ovate, margins entire, abaxially sparsely strigose along nerves. Heads 20–200, not secund, in narrow, elongate arrays of axillary and terminal racemiform clusters, branches and peduncles hairy, leafy-bracteate proximally. Peduncles 8–10 mm. Involucres 5–9 mm. Phyllaries (20–26) in 4–6 series, recurved, unequal, conspicuously spreading, lanceolate, margins ciliate, apices acute to obtuse, finely strigose. Ray florets 10–16; laminae 4–6.5 × 0.4–0.6 mm. Disc florets 15–30; corollas 5–5.6 mm, lobes 0.5–1.2 mm. Cypselae (obconic) 1.5–2 mm, glabrous; pappi 3–4.3 mm. 2n = 18.

Flowering Aug–Sep. Dry woods, fields and rocky slopes; 0–1000+ m; N.B., Ont., Que.; Conn., Del., Ind., Ky., Maine, Mass., N.H., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Pa., R.I., Vt., Va., W.Va.