Twistleaf Goldenrod

Plants 30–130 cm; caudices small, woody, rhizomes creeping, elongate. Stems 1–10, ascending to erect, uniformly finely strigillose-villous distal to mid. Leaves: basal cauline nearly always withering well before flowering, linear-oblanceolate, smaller than proximal mid cauline, serrate; proximal persisting, sometimes brown-black after senescence, often twisted; proximal to distal numerous (100+ on tall stems) , crowded, sessile, blades (bright green) linear to linear-lanceolate, 20–70 × 2–7(–10) mm, margins remotely serrulate (proximal) to entire or with 1–2 minute serrations (distal), obscurely 3-nerved, one or both faces glabrous or finely strigillose. Heads 100–300+, in short to elongate, pyramidal paniculiform arrays, branches recurved, secund. Peduncles 1–4 mm, finely strigilloso-villous; bracteoles 0–2, linear, grading into phyllaries. Involucres narrowly campanulate, 2.5–3.5 mm. Phyllaries in 3–4 series, strongly unequal; outer ovate, acute, inner oblong, obtuse to rounded. Ray florets 2–8; laminae 1–2 × 0.25–0.5 mm. Disc florets 2–4(–6); corollas 2.3–3.5 mm, lobes 0.4–1 mm. Cypselae (narrowly obconic) 1 mm, strigillose; pappi 2–3 mm. 2n = 18.

Solidago tortifolia, commonly known as twistleaf goldenrod, is a North American species of goldenrod in the family Asteraceae. It is found in the eastern and southern United States, primarily along the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plain from Maryland to Texas.

Solidago tortifolia is a perennial herb up to 130 cm (52 inches or 4 1/3 feet) tall, with a woody underground caudex or rhizomes. One plant can produce as many as 300 small yellow flower heads in a large, branching array at the top of the plant.