Sorting Solidagos

Welcome to the latest entry in my "Year in the Woods" series, where I document all the native plants I can find in our woods in one year.

Nothing puts me in the mood for fall quite like the sight of glorious Goldenrod (Solidago sp.) bending in the breeze next to the driveway. I've enjoyed them for years, and make a point to avoid them with mower and sprayer so they will proliferate. But a year or two ago I began to realize we had more than one type, some taller, some shorter, some blooming earlier or later. Sorting them all out has been on my "I've been meaning to..." list for a while, and today I crossed it off.

But first, allow me to extol the virtues of this native plant. Aside from the color of its flowers, as bright and cheerful as sunshine, the blossoms are a magnet for a wide variety of helpful and interesting insects, including stunning butterflies and many other beneficial natives. What's more, this plant has become available for purchase in recent years, so you can now add it to your very own flower garden.

In sorting them out, I was elated to discover we have six different species on our property! Okay, maybe "elated" is a little strong, I mean, it's just plants after all. I was "somewhat surprised". I was "mildly pleased". I was "pleasantly intruigued".

No, sorry, truth is I was elated. These are the things that elate me, deal with it as best you can.

Since the flowers are tiny and quite similar among the different species, telling them apart came down to leaf shape. Here's what I found:

 

So for the record, that's Solidago odora, Solidago nemoralis, Solidago rugosa, Solidago speciosa, Solidago canadensis and Solidago gigantea.  

Now, just for kicks, here are a few random pictures of various Goldenrods.

Some type of beetle on this one. Many beetles can provide pollination services just like the bees.

Tiny bee foraging on the flowers.

For a bonus, here are a couple of butterflies. First, a Painted Lady on Cosmos in my flowerbed.

Here's a little Skipper of some sort. There are many different species of Skippers, and I've no clue which this is.

Turkeys hangin' out next to the driveway.

For a list of all the plants I've found, click here.

Here's a description of my wildflower "hunting" techniques and the references I use to identify them:

http://timberwalkers.blogspot.com/2015/05/how-to-find-native-wildflowers-and.html

Here's a description of how I take photos:

http://timberwalkers.blogspot.com/2013/07/how-to-take-half-decent-photos-of.html