Early Goldenrod

In Great Britain and/or Ireland:
Foodplant / parasite
Golovinomyces orontii parasitises live Solidago juncea

Several varieties of Solidago juncea have been described; they do not appear to warrant recognition, each grading into the other.

Plants 30–120 cm; caudices branching, sometimes with elongate rhizomes forming new rosettes. Stems 1–10+ , erect, glabrous, sometimes sparsely hairy in arrays; usually with fascicles of small leaves in axils of distal leaves. Leaves: basal and proximal cauline tapering gradually to winged petioles, blades oblanceolate to ovate, 100–300 × 20–70 mm, usually multiple lateral nerves pronounced, margins sharply serrate, ciliate, faces glabrous; mid to distal cauline sessile, blades linear-lanceolate, 30–50 × 8–11 mm, reduced distally, margins entire or finely serrate. Heads 60–450 , secund, in paniculiform arrays, openly secund-pyramidal with proximal branches spreading-recurved, or as broad as long with proximal branches widely ascending, recurved (elm-tree shaped). Peduncles 1.5–6 mm, glabrous or sparsely strigillose; bracteoles 0–2, linear. Involucres narrowly campanulate, 3–4 mm. Phyllaries in 3–4 series, strongly unequal, outer ovate, acute, inner lanceolate, obtuse. Ray florets 7–12; laminae 2–2.5 × 0.2–0.5 mm. Disc florets 8–15; corollas 2.5–3 mm, lobes 0.5–0.8 mm. Cypselae 0.9–1.5 mm, sparsely strigose; pappi 2.5–3.5 mm. 2n = 18.

Solidago arguta Aiton var. juncea (Aiton) Torrey & A. Gray; S. arguta var. scabrella Torrey & A. Gray; S. juncea var. neobohemica Fernald; S. juncea var. ramosa Porter & Britton; S. juncea var. scabrella (Torrey & A. Gray) A. Gray

Solidago juncea, the early goldenrod, plume golden-rod, or yellow top, is a North American species of herbaceous perennial plants of the family Asteraceae native to eastern and central Canada and eastern and central United States. It grows from Nova Scotia west to Manitoba and Minnesota south as far as northern Georgia and northern Arkansas, with a few isolated populations in Louisiana and Oklahoma.

Solidago juncea is a perennial herb up to 120 cm (4 feet) tall, spreading by means of underground rhizomes. Leaves around the base of the plant can be as much as 30 cm (1 foot) long, the leaves getting smaller higher on the stem. One plant can produce as many as 450 small yellow flower heads in a large, showy array.

Solidago juncea is often grown in gardens as an ornamental.