Harris's or Shale-barren Goldenrod

Solidago harrisii Steele is a shale-barren ecotype native to the central Appalachian Mts.  It is distinguished by having leaves that are relatively firm, basal and lower stem leaves usually ± truncate and by having usually sparsely hairy fruits.  The species was treated as a variety of S. arguta in Semple & Cook (2006 FNA) and as a species by Semple & Beck (2021).  Multivariate analyses support species status (Semple et al. 2021). The species includes diploids 2n=18 known from Virginia and West Virginia. Semple and Morton (2024) presented a map of the cytogeography of S. harrisii.

Solidago harrisii range Semple draft