Wildflower (forb) · Asteraceae
Canada goldenrod
Solidago canadensis · includes its varieties and subspecies
Canada goldenrod is recorded as native to 40 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,396 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Canada goldenrod at a glance
- Native in
- 1,396 counties, across 40 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3a PLANTS minimum temperature −43°F
- Mature height
- 3.5 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Full sun (shade-intolerant) Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 3a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −43°F; zone 3a winters bottom out at −40°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Canada goldenrod is recorded as native to 40 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,396 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,396 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alaska 18 counties
- Arizona 7 counties
- Arkansas 68 counties
- California 35 counties
- Colorado 35 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 1 county
- Idaho 30 counties
- Illinois 98 counties
- Indiana 57 counties
- Iowa 11 counties
- Kansas 25 counties
- Kentucky 63 counties
- Maine 16 counties
- Maryland 9 counties
- Massachusetts 14 counties
- Michigan 61 counties
- Minnesota 74 counties
- Mississippi 62 counties
- Montana 23 counties
- Nebraska 43 counties
- Nevada 8 counties
- New Hampshire 10 counties
- New Jersey 19 counties
- New Mexico 18 counties
- New York 43 counties
- North Dakota 40 counties
- Ohio 77 counties
- Pennsylvania 60 counties
- Rhode Island 5 counties
- South Dakota 35 counties
- Tennessee 59 counties
- Texas 15 counties
- Utah 29 counties
- Vermont 13 counties
- Virginia 95 counties
- Washington 30 counties
- West Virginia 1 county
- Wisconsin 70 counties
- Wyoming 19 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 3.5 ft
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth form
- Rhizomatous
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Long
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intolerant (full sun (shade-intolerant))
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Medium
- Precipitation range
- 16 to 60 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 4.8 to 7.5
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 12 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −43°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 80
- Fire tolerance
- High
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Late Summer
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Asteraceae
- PLANTS symbol
- SOCA6
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Solidago canadensis (PLANTS symbol SOCA6), including 4 varieties and subspecies folded into the species.
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources