Solidago houghtonii | |
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1913 illustration [1] | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Asterales |
Family: | Asteraceae |
Genus: | Solidago |
Section: | S. sect. Ptarmicoidei |
Species: | S. houghtonii |
Binomial name | |
Solidago houghtonii | |
Synonyms [3] | |
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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 (Michigan and New York). [4] 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. [2]
Solidago houghtonii is a perennial herb producing one or more erect stems up to 60 centimeters (2 feet) tall or more from a branching caudex covered with the remains of previous seasons' leaves. The leaves near the base of the plant are oval in shape and those higher on the stem are linear or lance-shaped and up to 17 or 18 centimeters (6.8-7.2 inches) in length. The inflorescence is an array of many flower heads each up to a centimeter long. The head contains 6 to 12 yellow ray florets surrounding several disc florets. The fruit is about half a centimeter (0.2 inches) long including the pappus of bristles at the tip. [5] Blooming occurs in August. [2]
Houghton's goldenrod was originally described by John Torrey and Asa Gray in 1848 as Solidago houghtonii. In 1993, Guy Nesom transferred it to the genus of flat-topped goldenrods, Oligoneuron . [6] This goldenrod is now treated by some sources as Oligoneuron houghtonii [7] and by others as Solidago houghtonii, [8] [5] [9] [10] within the section Solidago sect. Ptarmicoidei. [11]
The name honors Douglass Houghton (1809–1845), a doctor, botanist, geologist, and civic leader who discovered this species in 1839 in Mackinac County, Michigan, on the shores of Lake Michigan. [12]
Solidago houghtonii grows on the shores of the Great Lakes, mainly Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, near the Michigan-Ontario border at Sault Ste. Marie. [5] It grows in sandy lakeshore habitat types as well as moist limestone alvars. The habitat is sometimes submerged but the plants return when water levels drop. [13] It also occurs in bog habitat. [2]
Houghton's goldenrod is threatened by the loss, degradation, and fragmentation of its habitat during development and construction. Any disturbance of the dunes among which the plant grows can be harmful. The use of off-road vehicles in the habitat is detrimental, and the installation of walls, roads, and other structures affects the dunes. Maintenance activities such as herbicide application, mowing, and road salting are threats, as is beach recreation. [2] Since 1975 about 20% of the populations of this plant have been eliminated. [2]
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.
Astereae is a tribe of plants in the family Asteraceae that includes annuals, biennials, perennials, subshrubs, shrubs, and trees. They are found primarily in temperate regions of the world. Plants within the tribe are present nearly worldwide divided into over 250 genera and more than 3,100 species, making it the second-largest tribe in the family behind Senecioneae.
Symphyotrichum frondosum is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to western North America. Commonly known as short-rayed alkali aster, it is an annual or perennial herbaceous plant that may reach 140 centimeters tall.
Symphyotrichum pilosum is a perennial, herbaceous, flowering plant in the Asteraceae family native to central and eastern North America. It is commonly called hairy white oldfield aster, frost aster, white heath aster, heath aster, hairy aster, common old field aster, old field aster, or steelweed. It may reach 20 to 120 centimeters tall, and its flowers have white ray florets and yellow disk florets.
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.
Symphyotrichum depauperatum, commonly known as serpentine aster or starved aster, is a rare species in the family Asteraceae adapted to serpentine barrens, an ecosystem with a high concentration of toxic metals in the soil. It has been found in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and on some diabase glades in North Carolina. It grows to 50 centimeters and has white ray florets surrounding a center of yellow disk florets.
Solidago gigantea is a North American plant species in the family Asteraceae. Its common names include tall goldenrod and giant goldenrod, among others.
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.
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.
Symphyotrichum prenanthoides is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name crookedstem aster. It is native to northcentral and northeastern North America.
Symphyotrichum falcatum is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Commonly called white prairie aster and western heath aster, it is native to a widespread area of central and western North America.
Solidago ptarmicoides, the prairie goldenrod, white flat-top goldenrod or upland white aster, is a North American perennial flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to the central and eastern Canada and parts of the United States (mostly Great Lakes region, the Northeast, the Ozarks, and the northern Great Plains, with isolated populations in Wyoming, Colorado, Oklahoma, and scattered locations in the Southeast. It has also been called upland white solidago, upland white goldenrod, and sneezewort goldenrod
Solidago riddellii, known as Riddell's goldenrod, is a North American plant species in the genus Solidago of the family Asteraceae. It grows primarily in the Great Lakes and eastern Great Plains of Canada and the United States. It is sometimes considered part of the genus Oligoneuron, but as a Solidago, included in the section Solidago sect. Ptarmicoidei, the flat-topped goldenrods.
Solidago rigida, known by the common names stiff goldenrod and stiff-leaved goldenrod, is a North American plant species in the family Asteraceae. It has a widespread distribution in Canada and the United States, where it is found primarily east of the Rocky Mountains. It is typically found in open, dry areas associated with calcareous or sandy soil. Habitats include prairies, savannas, and glades.
Solidago hispida, the hairy goldenrod, is North American species of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Its native range extends from Newfoundland west to Saskatchewan, and south as far as Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Georgia.
Solidago mollis is a North American species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names velvety goldenrod, soft goldenrod or Ashly goldenrod. It is native to the central United States and central Canada, primarily the Great Plains from the Canadian Prairie Provinces south as far as Texas and New Mexico.
Symphyotrichum shortii, commonly called Short's aster, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to North America, where it is primarily found in interior areas east of the Mississippi River. Its natural habitat is in thin rocky soils of woodlands and thickets often around limestone bluffs. It is common throughout much of its range, although it is generally restricted to intact natural communities.
Solidago sect. Ptarmicoidei is a section of flowering plants in the genus Solidago. They are sometimes considered a separate genus: Oligoneuron. Like related species they are known as goldenrods. This section contains seven species of perennial herbs, all native to North America. They are distinguished from other goldenrods by their corymbiform flowerheads, which are flat or rounded in profile and about as broad as tall or broader, for which they are sometimes called flat-topped goldenrods.
Symphyotrichum porteri is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae endemic to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in the U.S. states of Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. Commonly known as Porter's aster, it is a perennial, herbaceous plant that may reach 10 to 50 centimeters tall. Its flowers have white, rarely pinkish, ray florets and yellow, becoming pink then brown, disk florets. S. porteri grows at elevations of 1,800–2,900 meters. Its limited range makes it a NatureServe Vulnerable (G3) species, and it is classified Critically Imperiled (S1) in Wyoming.
Symphyotrichum eulae is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae endemic to Texas. Commonly known as Eula's aster, it is a perennial, herbaceous plant that may reach 5 to 150 centimeters in height. Its flowers have usually white to bluish or lavender-white ray florets and yellow then reddish to brown disk florets. It was named for Eula Whitehouse, American botanist, botanical illustrator, and plant collector.