Canada Goldenrod

Solidago canadensis

KeystoneHosts 3 caterpillarsBird foodPollinator plant

Growing it

When	Flowers August to September
Type	wildflower
Sun	Full sun, partial shade
Water	Low, medium
Soil	pH 5.5–7.5
Hardiness	zone 2–8
Mature height	1.5 m
Mature spread	0.6 m
Spacing	0.4 m
Years to maturity	1
Bloom	Aug–Sep
Flower colour	Yellow not verified, a genus-level estimate
In bloom	August September
Native to	SK

lance-shaped leaves about 10 cm long

Where it has been recorded

BothSpecimensObservations

138 squares of about 28 km, each holding at least one record. A square is not a claim that the plant grows throughout it, and an unshaded square is unrecorded rather than empty. Darker squares hold more records, which follows roads and towns as much as it follows the plant. 151 herbarium specimens and 38 field observations this project may redraw. A filled dot is a pressed sheet somebody can re-examine; a hollow ring is a photograph identified by community agreement. Where the dots are dense is where people have looked, not where the plant is commonest, and empty ground is unsurveyed rather than unoccupied. How this map is made.

Which ecoregions the records fall in

Aspen Parkland central AB / SK: 71 records, high confidence
Boreal Transition central AB / SK: 29 records, high confidence
Mid-Boreal Uplands central AB / SK: 27 records, high confidence
Northern Continental Divide south AB: 21 records, high confidence
Moist Mixed Grassland south AB / SK: 20 records, high confidence
Peace Lowland north AB: 12 records, medium confidence
Western Alberta Upland central AB: 11 records, medium confidence
Fescue Grassland south AB: 8 records, medium confidence
Slave River Lowland north AB: 8 records, medium confidence
Mixed Grassland south AB / SK: 7 records, low confidence
Cypress Upland south AB / SK: 4 records, low confidence

These are counts of records collected somewhere in the region, which is the resolution of the evidence: the map above shows where inside it. A region with 3 records is not the same claim as one with three hundred, so the count travels with the region. A region missing from this list means nobody has recorded it there, which is not the same as the plant being absent. Records within 900 m of a border count for neither side, because the border is not drawn finely enough to say which one they are on. Source: GBIF occurrence search + PRESERVED_SPECIMEN pass, retrieved 2026-08-24. Boundaries digitised from the National Ecological Framework for Canada v2.2 (Ecological Stratification Working Group 1995), simplified to about 900 m for display: an outline is accurate to roughly a kilometre, not to the metre. How these counts are made.

See every observation, live and current, on GBIF or iNaturalist.

Documented animals

144 documented relationships.

nectar for

Aerial Yellowjacket Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Agapostemon texanus Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Allograpta obliqua Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
American Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
American Sand Wasp Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Ancistrocerus adiabatus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Ancistrocerus catskill Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Andrena hirticincta Clint Otto et al. 2020
Aphrodite Fritillary Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Arcigera Flower Moth Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Arctic Yellowjacket Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Bald-faced Hornet Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Bicoloured Sweat Bee Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Bicyrtes ventralis Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Black-and-yellow Lichen Moth Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Black-horned Tree Cricket Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Black-shouldered Drone Fly Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Black-tailed Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
Bronze Copper Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Bronzed Cutworm Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Brown-belted Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
Brown-tailed Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
Bumblebees Wilson & Carril 2015
Calligrapher Fly Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Celery Looper Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Central Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
Ceratina calcarata Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Cerceris deserta Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Clouded Sulphur Acorn & Sheldon 2006
Colletes simulans Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Common Branded Skipper Acorn & Sheldon 2006
Common Checkered-Skipper Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Confusing Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
Coral Hairstreak Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Diabrotica virgifera Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Dingy Cutworm Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Drone Fly Acorn
Eastern Calligrapher Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Eastern Tailed-Blue Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Ectemnius continuus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Ectemnius dilectus Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Ectemnius lapidarius Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Ectemnius maculosus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Epicauta pensylvanica Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Epistrophe grossulariae Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Eristalis flavipes Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Eristalis stipator Clint Otto et al. 2020
Euodynerus foraminatus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Eupeodes americanus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Golden Northern Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
Goldenrod Soldier Beetle Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Gray Hairstreak Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Great Golden Digger Wasp Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Half-black Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
Halictus confusus Clint Otto et al. 2020
Halictus farinosus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Halictus ligatus Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Halictus tripartitus Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Heriades carinata Specimen records from ecdysis.org
High Country Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
Hunt's Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
Hylaeus leptocephalus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Hylaeus mesillae Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Indiscriminate Cuckoo Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
Isodontia elegans Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Isodontia mexicana Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Lasioglossum marinense LaManna et al. 2020
Limenitis lorquini Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Lithophane bethunei Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Megacyllene robiniae Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Melanoplus femurrubrum Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Melissa Blue Acorn & Sheldon 2006
Melissodes druriellus Clint Otto et al. 2020
Milbert's Tortoiseshell Acorn & Sheldon 2006
Monarch Acorn & Sheldon 2006
Mormon Fritillary Acorn & Sheldon 2006
Mourning Cloak Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Neophasia menapia Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Northern Amber Bumble Bee Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Northern Crescent Acorn & Sheldon 2006
Northern Paper Wasp Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Orange Sulphur Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Painted Lady Acorn & Sheldon 2006
Pearl Crescent Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Philanthus bilunatus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Philanthus gibbosus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Philanthus ventilabris Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Physocephala furcillata Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Pimpla pedalis Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Poecilanthrax tegminipennis Clint Otto et al. 2020
Ponometia candefacta Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Red Admiral Acorn & Sheldon 2006
Red-belted Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
Sericomyia militaris Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Silver-spotted Skipper Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Sitka Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
Spilomyia sayi Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Spotted Cucumber Beetle Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Summer Azure Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Symmorphus canadensis Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Syrphus vitripennis Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Tawny-edged Skipper Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Three-banded Lady Beetle Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Trichodezia albovittata Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Tricoloured Bumble Bee Clint Otto et al. 2020
Two-ranked Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
Vancouver Bumble Bee Specimen records from ecdysis.org
Variegated Fritillary Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Vespula acadica Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Vespula consobrina Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Vespula germanica Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Vespula maculifrons Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Viceroy Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Western Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
Woodland Skipper Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Xestia c-nigrum Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Xestia normaniana Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Yellow Cuckoo Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
Yellow-banded Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
Yellow-collared Scape Moth Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Yellow-fronted Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org

pollen for

Aerial Yellowjacket Guzman et al. 2022
Bicoloured Sweat Bee Packer
Colletes kincaidii Guzman et al. 2022
Dianthidium subparvum Guzman et al. 2022
Goldenrod Soldier Beetle Acorn
Melissodes microstictus Guzman et al. 2022
Morellia micans Robertson 1929
Orange-legged Furrow Bee Packer
Phormia regina Robertson 1929
Red-belted Bumble Bee Packer
Sweat Bees Wilson & Carril 2015
Variegated Fritillary Robertson 1929
Zaira georgiae Robertson 1929

caterpillar host for

Asteromyia carbonifera Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Enchenopa latipes Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Goldenrod Gall Fly Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Goldenrod Gall Moth Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Isabella Tiger Moth Pohl et al. 2018
Liriomyza eupatorii Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
White-marked Tussock Moth Specimen records from iNaturalist.org

seed for

American Goldfinch Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Black-capped Chickadee Poelen et al. 2014
Dark-eyed Junco Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Also worth knowing

Safety

Toxicity not assessed, absence of a warning is not a guarantee of safety

Edible parts

Leaves (tea)?, flowers?

Buying it

About $8–$16 per plant (estimate), usually stocked by garden centres. Estimate (herb default); AB retail as of 2026

Where these numbers came from

Flower detail: not verified, a genus-level estimate