Grass-leaved goldenrod “is an upright, erect, native perennial with a many-branched inflorescence. It is an herb of the Asteraceae family whose species name means “grass-leaf”. It grows to 3–6 ft in height with a 1–2 ft spread. The upper ½ of the plant appears bushy due to its branched stems and grass-like, narrow to linear, alternate leaves. It grows from a long-slender rhizome. The stalk-less 2–4 in long leaves taper to a long point, and narrow towards the stem. The leaf has 3–5 nerves underneath and is minutely rough-pubescent along nerves and margins. There are a few resinous dots on the underside of the leaf. The lower leaves are deciduous early in plant’s life cycle and the upper leaves are reduced towards the inflorescence. The leaves omit a scent when crushed. The primary stalk supporting the flower cluster is winged and pubescent with hairs lying flat on the wing margins. The flower heads are 2–2.5 in high, are arranged in dense, stalk-less, small flat-topped clusters of 20–35 flowers with s mall rays. It has pale to bright yellow flowers that bloom in the late summer or early fall. The outer flowers of the cluster open first. The flower heads are coneshaped and attached at the pointed end. The whorl of small leaves beneath the flower is ovoid to bell-shaped. The obtuse or rounded, yellow bracts around the flower are somewhat sticky. These overlapping bracts are 3.1 mm long and occasionally have green tips. The .02 in (.5 mm) long seed is a hard, pubescent, one-seeded, indehiscent white nutlet. The seed is attached to hair-like bristles (pappus). The receptacle is finely fringed.” (USDA)

Euthamia Graminifolia Botany  – USDA

Common Checkered Skipper on Grass-leaved Goldenrod

Cover:

1. By User:SB_Johnny – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2762967

USDA plant description: Sheahan, C.M. 2012. Fact sheet for flat-top goldentop (Euthamia graminifolia). USDA-NRCS, Cape May Plant Materials Center. Cape May, NJ. 08210.

Common Checkered Skipper on Flat-top Goldenrod: “Common Checkered Skipper” by Kerry Wixted is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Information and images compiled by Erik N.Vegeto

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