Solidago ptarmicoides
Looking for a really different native Goldenrod? Solidago ptarmicoides (aka Oligoneuron album) is distinctive within the Solidago genus in having white to cream-colored daisy-like flowers, in heads arranged in a flat-topped cluster rather than in an elongated raceme. Known as Prairie Goldenrod or White Upland Aster, one plant can sometimes produce as many as 50 small heads, blooming from August to October. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows in clumps 12 to 24” high and wide, native to dry, sandy, usually calcareous soils, cracks in rocks, limestone pavements, rocky outcrops, grassy slopes and prairies from Quebec to Saskatchewan south to Arkansas, and west to Colorado. It’s cold-hardy to USDA zone 3.
Like other Solidago species, it is an important plant for supporting late- season pollinators and beneficial insects, as well as goldfinches that love the seeds. Leaves are narrow and linear, often rather stiff. Colorado and Wyoming native populations are small and isolated, but the species has a wide range to the east and north. Prairie Goldenrod prefers mesic to dry, sandy soils and grassy meadows, and tolerates poor soils, heat and drought.