Wildflower (forb) · Asteraceae
Giant goldenrod
Solidago gigantea
Giant goldenrod is recorded as native to 43 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,552 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Giant goldenrod at a glance
- Native in
- 1,552 counties, across 43 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a PLANTS minimum temperature −33°F
- Mature height
- 8.2 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Sun to part shade Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 4a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −33°F; zone 4a winters bottom out at −30°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Giant goldenrod is recorded as native to 43 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,552 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,552 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Arkansas 31 counties
- Colorado 19 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 1 county
- Florida 33 counties
- Georgia 15 counties
- Idaho 21 counties
- Illinois 92 counties
- Indiana 66 counties
- Iowa 17 counties
- Kansas 91 counties
- Kentucky 45 counties
- Louisiana 8 counties
- Maine 16 counties
- Maryland 15 counties
- Massachusetts 14 counties
- Michigan 60 counties
- Minnesota 66 counties
- Mississippi 58 counties
- Missouri 87 counties
- Montana 36 counties
- Nebraska 44 counties
- Nevada 2 counties
- New Hampshire 10 counties
- New Jersey 19 counties
- New York 44 counties
- North Carolina 76 counties
- North Dakota 38 counties
- Ohio 60 counties
- Oklahoma 34 counties
- Oregon 9 counties
- Pennsylvania 62 counties
- Rhode Island 3 counties
- South Carolina 28 counties
- South Dakota 25 counties
- Tennessee 46 counties
- Texas 75 counties
- Vermont 13 counties
- Virginia 59 counties
- Washington 14 counties
- West Virginia 18 counties
- Wisconsin 69 counties
- Wyoming 13 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
- 8.2 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Bunch
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Summer
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
- 14 to 50 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium and fine
- pH range
- 4 to 8
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 16 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −33°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 110
- Fire tolerance
- None
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Indeterminate
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- Yes
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Asteraceae
- PLANTS symbol
- SOGI
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 gigantea (PLANTS symbol SOGI).
- 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