Solidago mexicana L.
Detail
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Botanical Name
- Solidago mexicana L.
- Common Name
- Southern Seaside Goldenrod
- Synonym(s)
- Solidago sempervirens L. var. mexicana (L.) Fern.
- Flora of Virginia Name/Status
- Solidago mexicana L.
- Comments
- The treatment here follows Flora of Virginia and Flora of the Southeastern U.S. (Weakley et al. 2023) in recognizing the two traditional vars. of S. sempervirens (var. sempervirens and var. mexicana) as species. Morphometric studies by Semple et al. (2016, Phytoneuron 2016-73. 1-31) plus significant biogeographic and ecological differences provide ample support for the split. Solidago mexicana ranges along the Coastal Plain from Massachusetts to Texas, and south into Mexico, overlapping the southern end of the more northern S. sempervirens range in Maryland, Virginia, and ne. North Carolina. Even in this sympatric zone, the two species are somewhat ecologically separated, with S. mexicana rather strongly associated with tidal and maritime wetlands, and S. sempervirens occurring more strictly on dunes. Solidago mexicana also has some morphological characteristics that make it similar to species in the Solidago stricta-virgata series, and is known to hybridize with them.
- Habitat
- Oligohaline to mesohaline tidal marshes, tidal swamps, maritime swamps, dune swales, and dune grasslands. Frequent in the maritime and lower estuarine zones of the Coastal Plain. Relative to the closely related Solidago sempervirens, S. mexicana is the more widely distributed species in Virginia, ranging farther inland along tidal rivers and exhibiting greater affiliation with wetlands while also occurring on dunes. The species has also been collected as a ruderal introduction in fill material in Fairfax and Henrico counties.
- Native Status
- Native
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