Brintonia discoidea (Elliott) Greene

Rayless Mock Goldenrod

Herb

Perennial

Vascular

Rayless Mock Goldenrod is a native herbaceous perennial in the Sunflower family (Asteraceae). It is native to the southern two-thirds of Alabama. Rayless Mock Goldenrod grows in rich hardwood forests, in ravines, and on hardwood slopes. It is a perennial with a short, stout, creeping rhizome. The stems are green in color and pubescent. Stems are from 2-4 feet in height. Leaves are basal and cauline. The basal leaves and lower stems leaves are petiolate with winged petioles, ovate in outline, pubescent, and with toothed margins. The upper stem leaves are smaller with shorter petioles. They are also more elliptic in outline with smaller teeth. Stem leaves are alternate. Flowers are produced in heads. The heads are arranged in narrow panicles near the tops of the stems. The heads have 8-20 pale yellow disc flowers and no ray flowers. Flowers turn rose purple then brown as they age. The fruit is an achene with a crown of white to purple barbed bristles. Rayless Mock Goldenrod has variously been placed in the genus Aster (as Aster discoideus Elliott), and in the genus Solidago (Solidago discoidea (Elliott) Torrey & A. Gray). The absence of ray flowers has partially been responsible for this confusion. Most data (including DNA analysis) now support its placement in a separate genus that is closely related to the Goldenrods (subtribe Solidagininae).--A. Diamond

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Native

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