Solidago sphacelata

False or Autumn Goldenrod

Solidago sphacelata range Semple draft

Solidago sphacelata Raf. is easily recognized by its very short pappus bristles and petiolate, cordate rosette and basal stem leaves (Semple & Cook 2006 FNA).  The common name "false goldenrod" comes from the erroneous assignment of the species to the segregate genus Brachychaeta Torr. & A. Gray rather than to Solidago, where it belongs. Semple and Beck (2021) placed S. sphacelata in S. subsect. Brachychaeta (Torr. & A. Gray) Semple & J.B. Beck in S. sect. Argutae (Mackenzie) Semple & J.B. Beck based on a polygenomic phylogeny results in Semple et al. (2023) which indicated a weak relationship to S. patula and S. salicina of subsect. Patulae. The short pappus is just the extreme case of shorter bristle length in the genus (Hood & Semple 2003). The species occurs in open woods and rocky places across the central eastern U.S. The species was included in a multivariate analysis that included the S. arguta complex and the S. patula complex; S. sphacelata was strongly supported as distinct from other species in the section (Semple et al. 2021). The species is diploid (2n=18). Semple and Morton (2024) presented a map of the cytogeography of S. sphacelata.

Semple, J.C. and J.B. Beck. 2021. A revised infrageneric classification of Solidago (Asteraceae: Astereae). Phytoneuron 2021-10. 1-6.

Semple, J.C., K. Nizamani, K. Kornobis, G. Samra, L. Tong and T. Stavroullakis. 2021. A multivariate study of Solidago sect. Argutae (Asteraceae: Astereae).  Phytoneuron 2021-20: 1–56.

Semple, J.C., McMinn-Sauder, H., Stover, M., Lemmon, A., Lemmon E., and J. B. Beck. 2023. Goldenrod herbariomics: Hybrid-sequence capture reveals the phylogeny of diploid Solidago. Amer. J. Bot. 110(7): e16164.https://doi.org/10.1002/ajb2.16164

Semple, J.C. and G.H. Morton. 2024.  Cytogeography of Solidago sect. Argutae (Asteraceae: Astereae). Phytoneuron 2024-13: 1–13.


Last revised 19 May 2025 by J.C. Semple     

© 2025 J.C. Semple, including all photographs unless otherwise indicated.

1-4. Solidago sphacelata. 1-3. Semple 11855, Jefferson Co., Kentucky. Flowering shoots, . 2. Basal rosette leaves. 3. Involucres. 4. Fruit with reduced pappus, Semple et al. 3019, Cocke Co., Tennessee.