Seaside Goldenrod

Seaside Goldenrod

Solidago sempervirens

Other names: Salt Marsh Goldenrod, Northern Seaside Goldenrod

Family: Asteraceae (Aster Family)

Further Classification:

Range: Eastern North America and the Caribbean (Seashores of the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico)

Native: Native

Native Habitat: Seashores: sand dunes, salt marshes and estuary shores

Bloom Time: Late summer into Fall

Notes:

Unlike other Solidago, sempervirens has hairless, toothless leaves. They’re waxy, and somewhat succulent. It blooms later than many of the other Solidagos.

It is highly tolerant of salt spray and saline soil. It’s found inland on roadsides in this area these days because it’s fine with the leftovers of the road salt that’s spread in the winter.

Goldenrods are my nemesis a bit – I love being able to categorize things, and the typical field of goldenrods around here is usually a mix of sometimes five different species that you need a hand lens to be able to tell the difference between. So seaside goldenrod became my favorite goldenrod because it’s still distinctly a goldenrod, but has different enough flowers and leaves that you can instantly tell it’s seaside goldenrod. I also love how it sometimes just grows right out of rocks.

I don’t have a favorite place to find this – it’s pretty much on any salty landscape near me in the late summer. You can see patches of yellow when driving by the salt marshes in my area – that’s seaside goldenrod.

Solidago comes from the Latin solido, which means ‘to make whole or heal’ and references the perceived healing values of the plants. Sempervirens is the Latin for ‘always green’, due to the evergreen nature of this specie’s leaves.

Further Classification (Asteraceae only):

Subfamily Asteroideae (contains 70% of the Asteraceae family)

Tribe Astereae (The second largest tribe in the family).

I keep track of this level of detail because there are so many Asteraceae species my folders were getting hard to organize.

Insect Visitors:

Western Honeybee, Apis mellifera
Bristle Fly, Strongygaster triangulifera and Eastern Calligrapher, Toxomerus geminatus
Parasitic Yellow Jacket, Dolichovespula arctica
American Copper, Lycaena hypophlaeas
Common Eastern Bumblebee, Bombus impatiens