Solidago squarrosa

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Perennial. Typical plant height is from 3 to 5 feet. Stems are solitary or clustered from a branched caudex; glabrous toward the base, becoming densely pubescent upwards.

Inflorescences are typically narrow and elongate (i.e., "wand" shaped), with numerous very short branches, each bearing a few flower heads. Branches of robust plants may be considerably longer and sharply ascending, producing a more club shaped inflorescence. Heads are not arranged one-sided on branches.

Flower heads are radiate. Ray and disc floret corollas are bright yellow. Involucral bracts are conspicuously recurved.

Basal and lower stem leaves are often persistent at flowering. They tend to be large, ovate or oblanceolate in outline, and taper to long, thin winged petioles. Mid- to upper stem leaves become progressively narrower and smaller upwards, and have shorter, broader winged petioles.

Plants of upland woods, clearings, natural openings, rocky slopes; possibly on higher pH soils. Flowers late August to late September. Native.