Wildflower (forb) · Asteraceae
Zigzag goldenrod
Solidago flexicaulis
Zigzag goldenrod is recorded as native to 30 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 752 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Zigzag goldenrod at a glance
- Native in
- 752 counties, across 30 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 5b PLANTS minimum temperature −18°F
- Mature height
- 3 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Sun to part shade Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 5b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −18°F; zone 5b winters bottom out at −15°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Zigzag goldenrod is recorded as native to 30 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 752 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 752 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 2 counties
- Arkansas 9 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 2 counties
- Georgia 2 counties
- Illinois 54 counties
- Indiana 55 counties
- Iowa 7 counties
- Kansas 1 county
- Kentucky 71 counties
- Maine 15 counties
- Maryland 8 counties
- Massachusetts 11 counties
- Michigan 47 counties
- Minnesota 48 counties
- Missouri 76 counties
- Nebraska 1 county
- New Hampshire 9 counties
- New Jersey 15 counties
- New York 37 counties
- North Carolina 11 counties
- North Dakota 4 counties
- Ohio 65 counties
- Pennsylvania 53 counties
- South Dakota 4 counties
- Tennessee 37 counties
- Vermont 13 counties
- Virginia 48 counties
- West Virginia 33 counties
- Wisconsin 14 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 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Rhizomatous
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Short
- Active growth period
- Spring, Summer, Fall
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intermediate (sun to part shade)
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Low
- Precipitation range
- 20 to 55 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium
- pH range
- 5.3 to 7
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 8 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −18°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 5b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 140
- Fire tolerance
- High
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Late Summer
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- Yes
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- No Known Source
- Family
- Asteraceae
- PLANTS symbol
- SOFL2
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 flexicaulis (PLANTS symbol SOFL2).
- 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