Solidago minutissima

Yakushima Goldenrod

Solidago minutissima (Makino) Kitamura is a rare, very small goldenrod native to just upper elevations on Yakushima Is., Kumage District, Kagoshima Pref., Japan.  Fruits are hairless.  The species is diploid.

Most collections of the species are from pin-cushion plants forming very short small clumps.  A few collections are of "taller" plants (10-15 cm tall) from the Hananoego area of the island to the south of Mt. Miyanoura (Miyanoura-dake).

Solidago virga-aurea L. var. yakusimensis Nakai and S. yakusimensis (Nakai) Masam. are synonyms.

Solidago minutissima was strongly supported statistically in the multivariate study of Solidago sect. Solidago by Semple et al. (2020). All 13 specimens included in the S. minutissima a priori group was assigned a posteriori to S. minutissima with high probability.

Images of cultivated plants are posted on line here and here, and plants in the wild here.