Home/Species/ Sweet Goldenrod

Solidago odora

Ait.

Sweet Goldenrod

G5Secure Found in 7 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →

G5SecureGlobal Rank

UnknownThreat Impact

Identity

Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.139759

Element CodePDAST8P170

Record TypeSPECIES

ClassificationSpecies

Classification StatusStandard

Name CategoryVascular Plant

Endemicendemic to a single nation

KingdomPlantae

PhylumAnthophyta

ClassDicotyledoneae

OrderAsterales

FamilyAsteraceae

GenusSolidago

Other Common Names

Anise-scented Goldenrod (EN) anisescented goldenrod (EN)

Concept Reference

Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.

Conservation Status

Rank Method Rank calculation - Biotics v2

Review Date2025-01-22

Change Date1984-09-06

Edition Date2025-01-22

Edition AuthorsSoteropoulos (2025)

Threat ImpactUnknown

Range Extent>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)

Number of Occurrences> 300

Rank Reasons

Solidago odora is a wide-ranging perennial herb in a variety of open woodlands occurring in the eastern United States from New Hampshire west to Ohio, Missouri, and Oklahoma south to Florida and Texas. There are over 1,000 occurrences that are potentially threatened by development, conversion to agriculture or silviculture, fire suppression, and invasive species. Little is known about trends, but with a large range extent and large number of occurrences, abundant habitat, broad habitat preferences, and no obvious intrinsic vulnerabilities, this species is considered secure.

Range Extent Comments

Solidago odora occurs in the eastern United States from New Hampshire west to Ohio, Missouri, and Oklahoma south to Florida and Texas (FNA 2006). While FNA (2006) includes Mexico in the distribution, Villaseñor (2016) excludes it. Range extent was estimated to be over 3 million square kilometers using herbarium specimens, photo-based observations, and NatureServe Network occurrence data documented between 1994 and 2025 (GBIF 2025, iNaturalist 2025, NatureServe 2025, SEINet 2025).

Occurrences Comments

By applying a 1 km separation distance to herbarium specimens, photo-based observations, and NatureServe Network occurrence data documented between 1994 and 2025, it is estimated that there are over 1,000 occurrences rangewide (GBIF 2025, iNaturalist 2025, NatureServe 2025, SEINet 2025).

Threat Impact Comments

Although threats are not widely documented, this species is potentially threatened by development, conversion to agriculture or silviculture, fire suppression, invasive species, and other threats in some places. However, their overall impact is likely negligible given the species' broad range, large number of occurrences, and no obvious intrinsic vulnerabilities.

Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Solidago odora grows in sandy and clay soils, dry open woods, open pine and oak woods, pine barrens, damp peaty pine woods, sand hills, edges/margins of oak and pine woods, disturbed areas, roadside embankments (FNA 2006).

Terrestrial Habitats

Forest EdgeWoodland - HardwoodWoodland - ConiferWoodland - MixedSavanna

Other Nations (1)

United StatesN5

Province	Rank	Native
New Hampshire	SNR	Yes
Mississippi	SNR	Yes
Connecticut	SNR	Yes
South Carolina	S5	Yes
North Carolina	S5	Yes
Oklahoma	SNR	Yes
Pennsylvania	SNR	Yes
Florida	S5	Yes
Maryland	SNR	Yes
New Jersey	SNR	Yes
Georgia	S5	Yes
Virginia	SNR	Yes
Ohio	S3	Yes
Arkansas	SNR	Yes
Vermont	SH	Yes
Louisiana	SNR	Yes
West Virginia	S4	Yes
Kentucky	S5	Yes
Alabama	SNR	Yes
Missouri	SNR	Yes
Tennessee	SNR	Yes
New York	S4	Yes
Texas	SNR	Yes
District of Columbia	SNR	Yes
Massachusetts	SNR	Yes
Rhode Island	SNR	Yes
Delaware	S5	Yes

Threat Assessments

Threat	Scope	Severity	Timing
Unknown/undetermined	—	—	—

Plant Characteristics

DurationPERENNIAL

Economic Value (Genus)No

Roadless Areas (7)

Alabama (2)

Area	Forest	Acres
Blue Mountain	Talladega National Forest	4,986
Reed Brake	Talladega National Forest	621

Arkansas (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
East Fork	Ozark-St. Francis National Forest	13,037

Florida (2)

Area	Forest	Acres
Alexander Springs Creek	Ocala National Forest	2,954
Savannah	Apalachicola National Forest	1,927

North Carolina (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Catfish Lake North	Croatan National Forest	11,299

Virginia (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Peters Mountain Addition B	Jefferson National Forest	2,909

References (7)

Flora of North America Editorial Committee (FNA). 2006b. Flora of North America north of Mexico. Vol. 20. Magnoliophyta: Asteridae, part 7: Asteraceae, part 2. Oxford Univ. Press, New York. xxii + 666 pp.
Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). 2025. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) data portal. Online. Available: https://www.gbif.org/ (accessed 2025).
iNaturalist. 2025. Online. Available: https://www.inaturalist.org (accessed 2025).
Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
NatureServe. 2025. NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia.
Southwest Environmental Information Network (SEINet). 2025. Collections Databases. Online. Available: https://swbiodiversity.org/seinet/collections/index.php (accessed 2025).
Villaseñor, J.L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad 87: 559-902.

Solidago odora

Habitat

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