Solidago confusion

[treecreeper]

There are acres of this in marshy ground in Meols



I had always assumed it was Canadian Goldenrod Solidago canadensis, but in Rose there is a similar species Early Goldenrod S. gigantea. According to the book they are distinguished by the hair arrangement;

Canadian Goldenrod: leaves hairy; at least top half of stem downy.
Early Goldenrod: leaves hairless or hairy only on lower side veins; stems more or less hairless.

My plants have downy inflorescence stalks and stems shiny and hairless apart from a few hairs on the top 3 or 4 inches. The leaves have no hairs on the blade but always have a fringe of very short forward pointing hairs on the margin. Younger leaves sometimes have a fringe of hairs on the lower midrib.

I'm not sure which species I have. I think I'm closer to Early Goldenrod but the fringe on the leaf margins makes me hesitate. Does anyone have experience separating these two?

BSBI map for Canadian Goldenrod:

BSBI Maps Scheme: Hectad Map canadensis&commname=Garden Golden Rod

And Early Goldenrod:

BSBI Maps Scheme: Hectad Map gigantea&commname=Early Golden Rod

[davidbr]

From your description I'd say it was Solidago canadensis; I can only really speak for the Bristol area but here canadensis is by far the commonest and the only one that forms large patches, S. gigantea just turns up as the odd plant or two usually close to habitation.

[treecreeper]

Good suggestion about the growth David. I can't imagine the species would behave entirely differently in Wirral. I'll wait till I find an indisputable Solidago canadensis and compare it with the Meols plants