Goldenrods (species in the genus Solidago) appear to be indigenous on at least three continents, North and South America, and Eurasia, and perhaps a fourth, northern Africa.  John Semple at the University of Waterloo has a map of this worldwide distribution on his website: https://uwaterloo.ca/astereae-lab/research/goldenrods.

There is one widespread indigenous species in Eurasia, S. virgaurea, though it is so widespread and has so much recognized variation that there could well be multiple species. There are also a half dozen indigenous species in far eastern Asia.

There is no universal agreement among botanists about how many species of goldenrod exist in North America, but they all agree that there are a lot of them.  While you might think they all look alike (and many do), there are some surprising differences among all these species, and I hope to explore some of these differences in future posts.

Let’s look at something seemingly simple: where do they grow?  The Natural Resources Conservation Service of the United Stated Department of Agriculture (USDA) maintains a database on plants in the United States and Canada. For each species that they recognize, they have a map of where it grows.  

So let’s look at goldenrods.  I’m using the common and species names from the USDA.

For each species, you might have to scroll down a bit for the map.  But then, you can play with the scale bar and zoom in on each state.  When you zoom in, many of the maps show the occurrence of the species in each county.  Some of the county distributions are quite surprising.

What you will see in these maps is the result of considerable speciation and adaptation among goldenrods.  Some are widespread generalists, some narrow specialists.  Specialization might include temperature, soil moisture, soil type, shade tolerance, elevation, latitude, proximity to the coast, or some combination of these.  We will explore some of these specializations in future posts.

Have fun with the maps.  If the maps don’t appear in your first browser, try another.

Atlantic to Pacific: these species stretch all the way across the continent (sometimes just barely).

Canada goldenrod, S. canadensis: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOCA6

Giant goldenrod, S. gigantea: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOGI

Gray goldenrod, S. nemoralis: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SONE

Missouri goldenrod, S. missouriensis: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOMI2

Tall goldenrod, S. altissima: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=soal6

Mt. Albert goldenrod, S. simplex: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOSI3

Rocky Mt. goldenrod, S. multiradiata: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOMU (this species prefers high latitudes or high mountains)

East to West: I have arranged these species roughly geographically across the continent.

Limestone goldenrod, S. calcicola: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOCA9

Cutler’s alpine goldenrod, S. cutleri: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOCU2

Largeleaf goldenrod, S. macrophylla: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOMA4

Stout goldenrod, S. squarrosa: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOSQ

Downy goldenrod, S. puberula: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOPU

Seaside goldenrod, S. sempervirens: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOSE (this species lives on shorelines, freshwater or marine)

Wreath goldenrod, S. caesia: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOCA4

Wrinkleleaf goldenrod, S. rugosa: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SORU2

Zigzag goldenrod, S. flexicaulis: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOFL2

Bog goldenrod, S. uliginosa: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOUL

White goldenrod, S. bicolor: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOBI

(also called silverrod)

Early goldenrod, S. juncea: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOJU

Hairy goldenrod, S. hispida: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOHI

Atlantic goldenrod, S. arguta: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOAR

Elmleaf goldenrod, S. ulmifolia: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOUL2

Roundleaf goldenrod, S. patula: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOPA2

Anisescented goldenrod, S. odora: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOOD

Downy ragged goldenrod, S. petiolaris: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOPE

Western rough goldenrod, S. radula: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SORA

Showy goldenrod, S. speciosa: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOSP2

Velvety goldenrod, S. mollis: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOMO

Baby goldenrod, S. nana: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SONA

Threenerve goldenrod, S. velutina: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOVE6

Nevada goldenrod, S. spectabilis: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOSP3

Goldenrods with smaller ranges (some have long common names), again arranged roughly from eastern to western North America

Showy goldenrod, S. erecta: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOER

Rock goldenrod, S. rupestris: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SORU3

Mountain decumbent goldenrod, S. curtisii: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOCU

Roan mountain goldenrod, S. roanensis: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SORO2

Shadowy goldenrod, S. sciaphila: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOSC

Wand goldenrod, S. stricta: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOST

Twistleaf goldenrod, S. tortifolia: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOTO2

Pine barren goldenrod, S. fistulosa: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOFI

Elliott’s goldenrod, S. latissimifolia: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOLA4

Dixie goldenrod, S. brachyphylla: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOBR

Leavenworth’s goldenrod, S. leavenworthii: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOLE5

Gorge goldenrod, S. faucibus: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOFA

Lance-leaf goldenrod, S. lancifolia: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOLA6

Clustered goldenrod, S. glomerata: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOGL2

Whitehair goldenrod, S. albopilosa: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOAL3

Short’s goldenrod, S. shortii: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOSH

Sand goldenrod, S. arenicola: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOAR4

Springflowering goldenrod, S verna: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOVE2

Plumed goldenrod, S. plumosa: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOPL

Hairy-seed goldenrod, S. villosicarpa: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOVI10

Carolina goldenrod, S. pulchra: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOPU3

Small’s goldenrod, S. pinetorum: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOPI

Ouachita mountain goldenrod, S. ouachitensis: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOOU

Gattinger’s goldenrod, S. gattingeri: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOGA

Louisiana goldenrod, S. ludoviciana: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOLU

High plains goldenrod, S. altiplanites: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOAL5

Julia’s goldenrod, S. juliae: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOJU2

Wright’s goldenrod, S. wrightii: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOWR

Guirado goldenrod, S. guiradonis: https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOGU