It’s That Golden Time

It’s That Golden Time

Fourteen species of Goldenrod grow at The Quarry Gardens, and most of them are blooming right about now. The featured image pictures a fine show of Gray goldenrod along the road at the quarry overlook platform.

North America is the world’s center for goldenrods with about 100 native species. Not surprisingly for such a large family of similar plants, they can be difficult to distinguish. In a timely move, Devin Floyd and Drew Chaney, of the Center for Urban Habitats, have created a user-friendly key to identifying those at the Quarry Gardens. Their key clusters the 14 species into five groups based on the shapes of their flower heads, and then goes into the details of leaf shape, stem hairiness, etc., each ending with a positive identification of one of these:

Stiff goldenrod, Solidago rigida                                                Silverrod, Solidago bicolor

Downy goldenrod, Solidago puberula                                     Slender goldenrod, Solidago erecta

Showy goldenrod, Solidago speciosa                                     Gray goldenrod, Solidago nemoralis

Pineywoods goldenrod, Solidago pinetorum                         Early goldenrod, Solidago juncea

Blue-stemmed goldenrod, Solidago caesia                         Zig-zag goldenrod, Solidago flexicaulis 

Sweet goldenrod, Solidago odora                                          Late goldenrod, Solidago gigantea

Tall goldenrod, Solidago altissima                                        Canada goldenrod, Solidago canadensis

The key may be found printed at the QG’s Visitor Center, or here:  Key to the Goldenrods (Solidago) of Quarry Gardens Not being especially skilled (or patient) with dichotomous keys, we’re still mystified by several of these, but here are photos of some easy ones:

          Sweet goldenrod has leaves that smell like anise. It may be found in the meadow by the Visitor Center and the North Quarry waterside pollinator patch, among other places.

           Silverrod might fool you you didn’t know that there is one white-flowering species of goldenrod.  It may be found along the pine needle pathway to the overlook platform.

          Stiff goldenrod may be found in the Demonstration garden by the Visitor Center.

Devin found this Slender goldenrod along the road by the South Quarry.

     Pineywoods goldenrod volunteered—where else?—in the pinewoods along the path from the Visitor Center to the quarry overlook.

     Showy goldenrod frames a view of the prairie that now covers the site of the first (middle) quarry. It is also among the 69 species planted or seeded into that prairie.

 

A few facts about Goldenrods:

  • They are a food and nectar source for many insects.
  • Their pollen does not cause hay fever; the culprit is ragweed, which blooms at the same time. Goldenrod has been used medicinally to reduceallergy symptoms.
  • All  are members of the Aster family, short-day plants that bloom in late summer.
  • Thomas Edison, experimenting to extract the maximum amount of rubber from goldenrod, produced a 12-foot tall plant that was 12% rubber. The tires on the Model T Ford given to him by his friend Henry Ford were made of rubber from goldenrod.
  • The young leaves are edible, and the plant has had some uses in traditional medicine for kidney ailments.
  • The name Solidagomeans to make whole or heal.
  • Cluster galls are a species indicator as they are found only on Canada goldenrod.
Addendum, 9/16/18
In spite of Devin’s key, which I (Bernice) didn’t read carefully enough, I  misidentified two goldenrods in the previous blog. The one I called silverrod is actually boneset. Here are his photos of Silverrod, Solidago bicolor,
and Showy goldenrod, solidago speciosa.
Mea culpa.
Bird Walk Opportunity

Bird Walk Opportunity

Ezra and Theo Staengl know birds. They also know the Quarry Gardens, having walked here often and supplied images and text for the Visitor Center’s digital photo exhibit Birds of the Quarry Gardens. Here they are (at another site).

 

So far, our 40-acre site has yielded sightings of 75 species, including the Scarlet Tanager in the featured photo, and the Indigo Bunting, below.

 

On Thursday, September 13, Ezra will lead a two-hour walk to observe year-round and early fall migrating birds, starting at 7:30 a.m. at the Visitor Center. To join him, sign up online at quarrygardensatschuyler.org/visit. The event is limited to 12 participants.