Solidago leiocarpa

Cutler’s Alpine Goldenrod

Solidago leiocarpa DC. is confined to higher alpine habitats in the mountains in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York and southern Québec.  It is closely related to S. multiradiata. It is distinguished by having unequal, obtuse to rounded phyllaries compared to S. multiradiata and S. spithamaea in eastern North America (Semple and Cook 2006). In an unpublished multivariate study of S. subsect. Solidago by the Astereae Lab, S. leiocarpa separated well from S. multiradiata.  The species is tetraploid (2n=36).

It has long been treated as S. cutleri Fern. in regional floras; S. leiocarpa has nomenclatural priority.