FIELD ID CHARACTERISTICS:
Fleshy, untoothed, lance-shaped leaves leaves. Yellow flowers have 7 to 11 petals, or ray flowers. Tolerant of salty soils.
Description: Medium to tall (0.4 to 2 m) perennial herb with erect flowering stems arising from rosetted basal leaves.
Leaves: Alternate, simple, smooth-margined, fleshy lance-shaped leaves; at base, generally 10 to 40 cm long, and less than 3 cm wide with those on stem decreasing in size to the top.
Flowers/Fruit: Small, yellow flowers in narrow or broad panicles at top of plant. Seeds are brown with short white bristles. Flowers and fruits late August to mid-November.
Habit and Range: Along the coast at the edges of salt and brackish marshes, tidal fresh marshes, estuarine shores, interdunal swales, maritime wet grasslands.
Taxonomic Note: This species was recently split from Solidago sempervirens (formerly Solidago sempervirens var. mexicana) due to genetic information.
COMMON CONFUSIONS:
Solidago mexicana (southern seaside goldenrod) overlaps in the Outer Banks with its close relative, Solidago sempervirens (northern seaside goldenrod), which is found in drier, sandier sites and has wider leaves. S. sempervirens also has 12 to 17 ray flowers (petals), whereas Solidago mexicana has 7 to 11.
Link to side-by-side comparisons page
