Solidago pacifica Juz. is native to the Far East Russia, Sakhalin Is., northeastern China, N. Korea, and a few locations in northwestern Hokkaido Is., Japan (Juzepczuk 1959). It appears to be a robust relative of S. decurrens; both have small heads compared to S. dahurica. I have only seen limited material of this species. Solidago pacifica was not strongly supported in the multivariate analyses of S. ser. Solidago by Semple et al. (2020) with low levels of a posteriori assignment to S. pacifica. Results based on a new analysis with the revised range of S. pacifica shown below were significantly improved for both S. dahurica and S. pacifica (Semple and Sakaguchi 2025).
Synonyms: Solidago virgaurea L. var. coreana Nakai, S. decurrens var. coreana (Nakai) Kitamura, and S. virga-aurea var. gigantea Nakai.
No chromosome numbers have been reported under the name S. pacifica.
Further work is needed to expand sample sizes of S. pacifica in both molecular and morphological studies to determine how best to delimit the species. Data from Shota Sakaguichi was used to revise and expand the range shown on the current distribution map.
Semple, J.C., Y. Ma, L. Tong, and M. Sorour. 2020. A multivariate morphometric analysis of Solidago sect. Solidago and S. sect. Multiradiatae (Asteraceae: Astereae). Phytoneuron 2020-38: 1–59.
Semple, J.C and S. Sakaguchi. 2025. Revisiting species limits of Solidago dahurica and S. pacifica (Asteraceae: Astereae). Phytoneuron 2025-23: 1–12.
Last revised 23 July 2025 by J.C. Semple
© 2025 J.C. Semple, including all photographs unless otherwise indicated
1-6. Solidago pacifica. 1. Habit, NW Hokkaido, Japan, photo by Yuzu Sakata. 2. Large shoot, Maack s.n. GH, Heilongjiang, China. 3. Heads, Wang 408 PE, HeilongJiang, China. 4. Phyllaries, Skvortsov s.n. MO, Vladivostok, Russia. 5. Fruit, drawing by JCS. 6. Range map draft JCS.