Solidago lepida var. lepida

Western Canada Goldenrod

Solidago lepida DC. var. lepida is the most widely distributed of the varietes of S. lepida occurring over much of the range of the species.  The infloresence is usually club-shaped and leafy with ascending branches. Eastern plants are hexaploid with large heads; these are likely relatively recent migrants from further west.  In the west, var. lepida can be difficult to distinguish from plants of var. salebrosa with shorter inflorescence branches that are less spreading.  Diploids with few small glands from the Yukon, southeastern British Columbia, Idaho, western Montana and Wyoming can be very similar to plants of S. elongata; including these in S. elongata would greatly expand the range of that species.  The range of var. lepida was mapped by Semple and Chmielewski (2022).