Solidago albopilosa

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Solidago albopilosa
White-haired goldenrod.jpg
Status TNC G2.svg
Imperiled  (NatureServe) [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Solidago
Species:
S. albopilosa
Binomial name
Solidago albopilosa

Solidago albopilosa is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name whitehair goldenrod. [2]

Contents

It is endemic to the state of Kentucky in the southeastern United States. It is threatened by recreational activities in its habitat. It is a federally listed threatened species of the United States.

Distribution

This plant species is only found in Eastern Kentucky, in a single river canyon, the Red River Gorge. It grows there within the Daniel Boone National Forest, in Menifee, Powell, and Wolfe Counties. [3] There it is limited to rock shelters, open caves with overhanging rock formations. [1] It grows on sandy soil that has accumulated on the sandstone floors of the rock shelters. It grows behind the drip line, out of direct sunlight but not in the darkest shadows of the caves.

Description

Solidago albopilosa is a perennial herb producing one or more erect stems from a woody caudex. [4] It grows 30 to 50 centimeters (12 to 20 inches) tall but it can reach 1 meter (39 inches) in height. It is covered in white hairs. [1]

The leaves have oval or spatula-shaped serrated blades up to 8 or 9 centimeters (3.1 or 3.5 inches) long by 4 or 5 cm (1.5 or 2 in) wide, becoming smaller toward the end of the stem. The leaf blades are "so thin that coarse print is readable through [them]." [5]

The inflorescence is a cluster of up to 30 flower heads, each roughly half a centimeter (0.2 inches) long. The head contains 3 to 5 tiny yellow ray florets and a few disc florets. The fruit is up to half a centimeter (0.2 inches) long including its pappus. [4] Blooming occurs in September through November. [1]

Ecology

Other plants in this type of habitat and the surrounding forest include white baneberry (Actaea pachypoda), northern maidenhair fern (Adiantum pedatum), jack in the pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum), flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), yellow mandarin (Disporum lanuginosum), smooth hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens), Indian cucumber-root (Medeola virginiana), Nepalese browntop (Microstegium vimineum), partridge berry (Mitchella repens), clearweed (Pilea pumila), Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides), great rhododendron (Rhododendron maximum), poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans), and maple-leaf viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium). [3] Roundleaf catchfly ( Silene rotundifolia ), and littleflower alumroot (Heuchera parviflora) are common associates. [6]

Conservation

Conservation activities include the installation of small fences around the plants and the redirection of trails through less sensitive habitat. [3]

The main threat to this species is damage to its habitat during recreational activities in this section of the Daniel Boone National Forest. [1] Hiking, camping, and rock climbing are popular pursuits in the area. [3] Trampling destroys the plants, compacts the soil, and damages the seeds and rhizomes. Explorers invade the rock shelters and build fires, dump garbage, spread the seeds of invasive plants like garlic mustard, and dig in the soil for archaeological artifacts. Logging opens the forest and increases light levels, decreases water, and increases the invasion of introduced species of plants, posing a further threat to the species. [1]

Related Research Articles

<i>Solidago</i> Genus of plants in the family Asteraceae

Solidago, commonly called goldenrods, is a genus of about 100 to 120 species of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Most are herbaceous perennial species found in open areas such as meadows, prairies, and savannas. They are mostly native to North America, including Mexico; a few species are native to South America and Eurasia. Some American species have also been introduced into Europe and other parts of the world.

<i>Solidago canadensis</i> Species of flowering plant

Solidago canadensis, known as Canada goldenrod or Canadian goldenrod, is an herbaceous perennial plant of the family Asteraceae. It is native to northeastern and north-central North America and often forms colonies of upright growing plants, with many small yellow flowers in a branching inflorescence held above the foliage. It is an invasive plant in other parts of the continent and several areas worldwide, including Europe and Asia. It is grown as an ornamental in flower gardens.

<i>Solidago flexicaulis</i> Species of plant

Solidago flexicaulis, the broadleaved goldenrod, or zigzag goldenrod, is a North American species of herbaceous perennial plants in the family Asteraceae. It is native to the eastern and central parts of the United States and Canada, from Nova Scotia west to Ontario and the Dakotas, and south as far as Alabama and Louisiana. It grows in a variety of habitats including mesic upland forests, well drained floodplain forests, seepage swamp hummocks, and rocky woodlands.

<i>Solidago shortii</i> Species of flowering plant

Solidago shortii, commonly known as Short's goldenrod, is a species of goldenrod in the family Asteraceae. The only known populations of Short's goldenrod occur around the Blue Licks Battlefield State Park area of Kentucky and Harrison-Crawford State Forest in Indiana. It was listed on the Federal Register of Endangered Species on September 5, 1985, and was given a global rank of G1 on February 29, 2000.

<i>Solidago nemoralis</i> Species of plant

Solidago nemoralis is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to North America, where it is widely found in Canada and the United States. Its common names include gray goldenrod, gray-stem goldenrod, old-field goldenrod, field goldenrod, prairie goldenrod, dwarf goldenrod, and dyersweed goldenrod.

<i>Solidago gigantea</i> Species of plant in the family Asteraceae native to North America

Solidago gigantea is a North American plant species in the family Asteraceae. Its common names include tall goldenrod and giant goldenrod, among others.

Solidago guiradonis is an uncommon species of goldenrod known by the common name Guirado goldenrod. It is native to the Central California Coast Ranges of central California, in southern San Benito and western Fresno Counties.

<i>Solidago spectabilis</i> Species of flowering plant

Solidago spectabilis is a species of goldenrod known by the common names Nevada goldenrod, basin goldenrod, and showy goldenrod. It is native to the western United States in the Great Basin and surrounding areas. It is found in California, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, and Utah. There are historical records saying it once grew in southwestern Idaho, but is now extirpated there. This variety has also been seen in the western Montana county of Sanders.

<i>Solidago spithamaea</i> Species of flowering plant

Solidago spithamaea is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name Blue Ridge goldenrod. It is native to a very small region around the border between North Carolina and Tennessee in the United States. Its three remaining populations are threatened by the loss and degradation of its habitat. It is a federally listed threatened species of the United States.

<i>Solidago houghtonii</i> Species of flowering plant

Solidago houghtonii is a rare North American species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known as Houghton's goldenrod. It is native to southern Ontario, Canada and the northern United States. It is threatened by the loss and degradation of its habitat. It is a federally listed threatened species of the United States and it is designated a species of special concern by Canada's Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada.

<i>Veratrum hybridum</i> Species of flowering plant

Veratrum hybridum is a species of flowering plant in the Melanthiaceae known by the common names slender bunchflower and crisped bunchflower. Many publications use the synonyms Melanthium latifolium and Veratrum latifolium, but the "hybridum" epithet is 9 years older than the "latifolium," so Veratrum hybridum is now the accepted name.

<i>Solidago missouriensis</i> Species of flowering plant

Solidago missouriensis is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names Missouri goldenrod and prairie goldenrod. It is native to North America, where it is widespread across much of Canada, the United States, and northern Mexico. It grows from British Columbia east to Manitoba, south as far as Sonora, Coahuila, Texas, and Mississippi.

<i>Ageratina luciae-brauniae</i> Species of flowering plant

Ageratina luciae-brauniae is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names Lucy Braun's snakeroot and rockhouse white snakeroot. It is native to the eastern United States, where it is limited to the Cumberland Plateau of Kentucky and Tennessee. It may also occur in South Carolina but these reports are unconfirmed.

<i>Solidago ouachitensis</i> Species of flowering plant

Solidago ouachitensis is a North American species of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae known by the common name Ouachita Mountain goldenrod. It has a very limited range, found only in the Ouachita Mountains along the border between Arkansas and Oklahoma in the United States.

Solidago verna is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common names springflowering goldenrod and spring goldenrod. It is native to North Carolina and South Carolina in the United States.

<i>Solidago villosicarpa</i> Species of flowering plant

Solidago villosicarpa is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names hairy-seed goldenrod, coastal goldenrod, glandular wand goldenrod, and shaggy-fruit goldenrod. It is endemic to North Carolina in the United States, where there are only four known populations.

<i>Solidago gattingeri</i> Species of flowering plant

Solidago gattingeri, common name Gattinger's goldenrod, is a species of plant that is a goldenrod. It is native only to the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas and Missouri and to the Nashville Basin of Tennessee. Its preferred habitat is cedar glades, cedar barrens, and limestone outcrops. It is adapted to dry habitats.

<i>Solidago simplex</i> Species of flowering plant

Solidago simplex, the Mt. Albert goldenrod or sticky goldenrod, is a North American plant species in the genus Solidago of the family Asteraceae. It is widespread across much of Canada, parts of the United States, and northeastern Mexico.

Solidago faucibus, the gorge goldenrod, is North American species of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. It was recognized as a distinct species in 2003. It is found primarily in the southern Appalachian Mountains of the southeastern United States, in the states of Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and South Carolina. It is found in mesic forested gorges, often growing under Tsuga canadensis.

Solidago rupestris , the rock goldenrod or riverbank goldenrod, is a North American species of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. It is found in the eastern United States, found today in the States of Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee. There are historical records of it formerly growing in Indiana and Pennsylvania as well, but these populations now appear to have been extirpated.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Solidago albopilosa. The Nature Conservancy.
  2. USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Solidago albopilosa". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Solidago albopilosa. Archived 2011-10-26 at the Wayback Machine Center for Plant Conservation.
  4. 1 2 Solidago albopilosa. Flora of North America.
  5. Braun, E.L. 1942. A new species and a new variety of Solidago from Kentucky. Rhodora. 44: 1-4. IN: Solidago albopilosa. Archived 2011-10-26 at the Wayback Machine Center for Plant Conservation.
  6. White, D. L. and N. C. Drozda. (2006). Status of Solidago albopilosa Braun (White-Haired Goldenrod) (Asteraceae), a Kentucky Endemic. Castanea 71:2 124.