ADDISONIA 69 
(Plate 75) 
SOLIDAGO ALTISSIMA 
Tall Goldenrod 
Native of the eastern United States 
Family CARDUACEAE THIstLe Family 
Solidago altissima 1,. Sp. Pl, 878. 1753. 
Solidago canadensis scabra T. & G. Fl. N. Am. 2: 224. 1842. 
The stems of this perennial herb arise from creeping rootstocks; 
they are two to eight feet high and are cinereous puberulent, 
pubescent, or hirsute, The alternate leaves are very numerous 
and decrease gradually in size from the base to the top of the stem. 
They are lanceolate and strongly three-nerved and the lower are 
sharply serrate and petioled, while the upper are less serrate or 
nearly entire and sessile; they are minutely pubescent or rough 
above and short-hairy beneath, and usually are two to six inches in 
length and one third of an inch to an inch in width. ‘The heads 
are very numerous, short-stalked and secund on the spreading 
or recurved branches of the ample pyramidal panicle. Each in- 
: : ; an uti ll 
and blunt or slightly oohited and rather thin. The achenes are 
glabrous or slightly pubescent. 
This is the most abundant and best-known species of golden-rod 
in many sections of the eastern half of the United States, and often 
thrives so well that it might well be regarded as a weed. It flowers 
from August to November and is found in various situations, but 
prefers dry soil and a sunny exposure. It occurs from Maine to 
Georgia and west at least as far as Nebraska and Texas, while 
plants from still further west are very closely related. 
Its botanical history commenced before 1728, for in that year 
Martyn (Hist. Pl. 14. gl. 14) published a good colored plate of the 
Plant, under the name “ Virga aurea altissima serotina, panicula 
Speciosa patula”” which name was taken by him from a previous 
Publication by Isaac Rand, which I have not seen. Later on, in 
1753, Linnaeus seems to have had a clear conception of the species. 
At any rate he kept it distinct from another species of more northern 
Tange, which he named Solidago canadensis. Later botanists over- 
looked the distinctions between these species and as a result the 
Plant we are now considering passed as Solidago canadensis for 
