ASTER FAMILY (Compositae or Asteraceae)
IND. STATUS: OBL
FIELD CHARACTERISTICS: A perennial herb 40-100 cm. high. Leaves of the lower and upper stem are dissimilar, the lower or basal leaves being better developed and usually persistent. Leaves are sickle-shaped, folded, triple nerved, and not dotted with glands. Leaves are persistent up to flowering time. The inflorescence is a flat-topped, hairy corymb. Flowers are yellow. In flower from September to early November.
Riddell's goldenrod can be confused with Ohio goldenrod (Solidago ohioensis), which occurs in similar habitats. Ohio goldenrod leaves are flat and not triple-nerved, and its inflorescence is hairless. Refer to Appendix A for a key to wetland goldenrods.
ECOLOGICAL NOTES: Riddell's goldenrod is characteristic of wet to wet-mesic prairies supported by groundwater seepages. It also occurs, to a lesser extent, on wet shores and in calcareous fens.
SOURCE: Gleason and Cronquist (1991); and Swink and Wilhelm (1994).