Typically grows 2 to 3 feet tall with arching panicles of yellow flowers July to October. Spreads easily through rhizomes and self-sowing to form colonies. Plants tend to lean due to the weight of the flowers. Common name refers to the green leaves' resemblance to those of the elm tree. Tolerates deer, drought, and dry soils.
Genus name comes from the Latin words solidus, meaning "whole," and ago, referring to the medicinal healing properties of some species plants. The specific epithet means "elm-leaved."
Great for naturalizing, native plant gardens, and woodland margins.
Plant Characteristics:
Grows 1-3 and up to 4' tall.
Prefers part sun or light shade.
Prefers moist to slightly dry, well-drained soils, including loamy, sandy loam, clay, and rocky. Tolerates dry soils once established.
Flowers occur on the upper side of hairy stalks that arch out and downward to form a vase-shaped flower cluster.
Wildlife Value:
Goldenrods are the food source for the larvae of 122 species of Lepidoptera, including brown-hooded owlet, asteroid, and wavy-lined emerald moths, and at least 13 specialist moths. Honey and native bees, wasps, beetles, and butterflies flock to the blooms for copious amounts of nectar and sticky pollen. Beneficial predators follow, including spiders, dragonflies, birds, and lady beetles. Goldfinches and sparrows eat the seeds.
Medicinal, Edible, and Other Uses:
The Meskwaki used the smoke of this plant, blown up the nostrils, to revive an unconscious patient.
Resources:
Go Botany: https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/solidago/ulmifolia/
Illinois Wildflowers: https://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/woodland/plants/elm_goldenrod.htm
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=SOUL2