Little White Floral Mystery


Silverrod (Solidago bicolor). An herbaceous perennial that grows in open, dry woods. It grows 1 to 3 feet tall though I have only seen plants 1 to 1.5 feet tall

With white or cream colored flowers that emerge from the leaf axils. Just a 1/4 inch wide and crowded on a single vertical stem. The flowers are composed of yellow disk flowers and white ray flowers in each single bloom, like other flowers in its genus – think of daisies – two types of flowers in each single bloom.

When I first came upon this plant in the woods I had no idea what in the world I was seeing, and it was really a surprise to realize that it was a goldenrod. There is only one goldenrod in the eastern United States with white ray flowers and it is Silverrod.

The plant is often a single, thin, fine hair covered stem, which is a slightly gray-green or slightly reddish-green color.

This is not a plant that I often seen in my wanderings, but it brings pure joy when I see it. My little white goldenrod!