Alternate name: Flat-top Goldentop, Grass-leaf Goldenrod

Family: Asteraceae, Aster view all from this family

Description Native perennial herb; spreads by rhizome, may form large colonies.
Habit: erect, sometimes bushy; with thin, branching, leafy stems.
Height: 1-5 ft (30-150 cm)
Leaf: alternate, simple, grass-like, held horizontally, dotted with glands; 1.5-5 in (37-130 mm) long, 1/8-1/2 in (3-12 mm) wide.
Flower: small, yellow, 1/8 in (3 mm) wide; held in open, flat-topped cluster to 11 in (28 cm) wide; cluster may contain open and unopened flowers.

Flower July to October.

Flower July - September

Habitat Moist sunny places: wet meadows, wet thickets, open fields, shorelines, prairies, marshes, dunes, ditches, roadsides, vacant lots, disturbed sites.

Range Native to the Northeast, Midwest, and the upper Plains; now naturalized in most of North America, from non-arctic Canada south to South Carolina, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Idaho, and Washington; to 2950 ft (900 m).

Discussion Also known as: grass-leaved goldenrod, flat-top goldentop, slender goldentop, common goldentop. The flat-topped floral arrangement and narrow leaves of this Goldenrod are distinctive. Slender Fragrant Goldenrod (E. tenuifolia) has grass-like leaves with tiny resin dots and only one rib or vein.

Exposure Preference Sun.

Native Distribution Quebec to Maryland, w. to North Dakota, Kansas & rarely to Oklahoma

Site Preference Damp to drier thickets; open areas

Soil Preference Moist, average soils.