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Drummond's Goldenrod
Solidago drummondii Torr. & A. Gray is distinguished by its ovate leaf blades with three prominent veins and large margin serrations. The species is native to crevices of limestone ledges and bluffs, and rocky woods, especially in calcareous soil in the eastern half of Missouri and adjacent Arkansas and Illinois eastward in southern Illinois (Semple & Cook 2006 FNA). Cronquist (1980) listed Solidago drummondii as reputedly in Louisiana; K. N. Gandhi and R. D. Thomas (1989) did not see any specimen from that state. There is one diploid count 2n=18 for the species.
Semple (2003) placed the species in ser. Drummondiani which was included in subsect. Venosae by Semple and Cook (2006 FNA). Cronquist (1980) placed the species just before S. odora. Semple and Beck (2021) placed the the species in S. sect. Venosae subsect. Drummondiani (Semple) Semple & J.B. Beck based on molecular results presented in Beck et al. (2021).
The species is listed at plants.usda.gov as a synonym of S. rugosa ssp. aspera, which is surprising since the two taxa are easily distinguished on the basis of the mid stem leaf venation.
Solidago drummondii, Steyermark 15707 (MO), Dent Co., Missouri
Solidago drummondii, stem, Steyermark 15707 (MO), Dent Co., Missouri
Solidago drummondii, lower mid stem leaves, Steyermark 6849 (MO), Miller Co., Missouri
Solidago drummondii, heads, Rowan 1179 (MO) Wayne Co., Missouri
Beck, J.B., M.L. Markley, M.G. Zielke, J.R. Thomas, H.J. Hale, L.D. Williams, and M.G. Johnson. 2021. Are Palmer's Elm-Leaf Goldenrod and the Smooth Elm-Leaf Goldenrod Real? The Angiosperms353 Kit Provides Within-Species Signal in Solidago ulmifolia s. l. Systematic Botany 46 (4), 1107-1113.
Last updated 1 June 2023 by J.C. Semple
© 2023 J.C. Semple, including all photographs unless otherwise indicated