Stiff Goldenrod

Solidago rigida

KeystoneBird foodPollinator plant

Growing it

When	Flowers August to September
Type	wildflower
Sun	Full sun, partial shade
Water	Low
Soil	pH 6–8
Hardiness	zone 3–7
Mature height	1 m
Mature spread	0.45 m
Spacing	0.3 m
Years to maturity	2
Bloom	Aug–Sep
Flower colour	Yellow not verified, a genus-level estimate
In bloom	August September
Native to	AB, SK

lance-shaped leaves about 10 cm long

Documented animals

78 documented relationships.

nectar for

Aerial Yellowjacket Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Andrena hirticincta Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Apamea unanimis Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Bald-faced Hornet Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Batyle ignicollis Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Batyle suturalis Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Black-shouldered Drone Fly Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Brown-belted Bumble Bee Clint Otto et al. 2020
Bumblebees unattributed, no specific work recorded
Calligrapher Fly Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Cerceris sexta Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Checkered White Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Clouded Sulphur unattributed, no specific work recorded
Conocephalus saltans Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Dingy Cutworm Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Drone Fly Clint Otto et al. 2020
Eastern Calligrapher Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Ectemnius dilectus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Ectemnius rufifemur Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Epicauta pensylvanica Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Eristalis stipator Clint Otto et al. 2020
Euodynerus annulatus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Euodynerus foraminatus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Euodynerus hidalgo Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Eupeodes americanus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Goldenrod Leaf Miner Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Goldenrod Soldier Beetle Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Gray Hairstreak Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Great Golden Digger Wasp Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Half-black Bumble Bee Clint Otto et al. 2020
Halictus confusus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Halictus ligatus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Helophilus fasciatus Clint Otto et al. 2020
Helophilus latifrons Clint Otto et al. 2020
Hunt's Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.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
Leucospis affinis Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Meadow Fritillary Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Megachile latimanus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Megacyllene robiniae Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Melissodes druriellus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Melissodes trinodis Clint Otto et al. 2020
Monarch unattributed, no specific work recorded
Northern Paper Wasp Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Orange Sulphur Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Oxybelus uniglumis Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Parhelophilus laetus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Perdita octomaculata Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Philanthus gibbosus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Philanthus ventilabris Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Physocephala tibialis Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Polistes aurifer Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Ponana pectoralis Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Prionyx atratus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Prionyx canadensis Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Pterocheilus quinquefasciatus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Red-belted Bumble Bee Clint Otto et al. 2020
Satyrium acadica Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Sphaerophoria contigua Clint Otto et al. 2020
Spilomyia sayi Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Spotted Cucumber Beetle Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Strongygaster triangulifera Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Syrphus rectus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Tachytes sayi Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Tarnished Plant Bug Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Tricoloured Bumble Bee Clint Otto et al. 2020
Two-ranked Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org
Vespula maculifrons Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Western Bumble Bee Specimen records from www.bumblebeewatch.org

pollen for

Andrena miserabilis Robertson 1929
Bicoloured Sweat Bee unattributed, no specific work recorded
Lasioglossum albipenne Robertson 1929
Philanthus ventilabris Robertson 1929
Viceroy Robertson 1929

seed for

American Goldfinch Cornell Lab of Ornithology

caterpillar host for

Asteromyia carbonifera Specimen records from iNaturalist.org

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. 55 herbarium specimens and 225 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

Moist Mixed Grassland south AB / SK: 178 records, high confidence
Aspen Parkland central AB / SK: 152 records, high confidence
Mixed Grassland south AB / SK: 39 records, high confidence
Boreal Transition central AB / SK: 33 records, high confidence
Cypress Upland south AB / SK: 32 records, high confidence
Fescue Grassland south AB: 27 records, high confidence
Western Alberta Upland central AB: 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. Source: GBIF occurrence search, retrieved 2026-08-25. 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.

Also worth knowing

Safety

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

Buying it

price: about $8–$16 per plant (estimate); availability: garden centre; notes: Estimate (herb default); AB retail as of 2026

Where these numbers came from

Flower detail: not verified, a genus-level estimate