''Solidago spithamaea'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name Blue Ridge goldenrod. It is native to a very small region around the border between North Carolina and Tennessee in the United States.Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map
/ref> Its three remaining populations are threatened by the loss and degradation of its habitat. It is a federally listed threatened species of the United States. ''Solidago spithamaea'' produces one or more stems from an underground

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

and

caudex A caudex (plural: caudices) of a plant is a stem, but the term is also used to mean a rootstock and particularly a basal stem structure from which new growth arises.pages 456 and 695 In the strict sense of the term, meaning a stem, "caudex" is m ...

, and it grows 10 to 40 centimeters (4-14 inches) tall. The plant has an unpleasant scent. The leaves vary in shape and size, the ones higher on the stem becoming smaller. The inflorescence is a compact or spreading array of 15 to 50 or more

flower heads A pseudanthium (Greek for "false flower"; ) is an inflorescence that resembles a flower. The word is sometimes used for other structures that are neither a true flower nor a true inflorescence. Examples of pseudanthia include flower heads, compos ...

. Each head has a bell-shaped base about half a centimeter (0.2 inches) long which is lined with phyllaries with pointed, darkened tips. The head contains 8-15 yellow ray florets just a few millimeters long, surrounding 20-60 disc florets. The fruit is an

achene An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not ope ...

with a pappus of bristles.Flora of North America, ''Solidago spithamaea'', M. A. Curtis ex A. Gray, 1842. Skunk or Blue Ridge goldenrod
/ref> ''Solidago spithamaea'' grows on the high summits of the Blue Ridge Mountains in western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. There is one population each in Avery and Mitchell Counties in North Carolina and Carter County, Tennessee, a region measuring about 15 square miles (38 km²).''Solidago spithamaea''.
Center for Plant Conservation. It can be found on

Grandfather Mountain Grandfather Mountain is a mountain, a non-profit attraction, and a North Carolina state park near Linville, North Carolina. At 5,946 feet (1,812 m), it is the highest peak on the eastern escarpment of the Blue Ridge Mountains, one of the major ch ...

Hanging Rock Hanging Rock may refer to: Australia * Hanging Rock, New South Wales, a mining village on the Northern Tablelands * Hanging Rock, Victoria, a rock formation **''Picnic at Hanging Rock (novel)'', a 1967 novel by Australian author Joan Lindsay ** ...

, and Roan Mountain.''Solidago spithamaea''.
The Nature Conservancy. It grows on rocky peaks, cliffs, and slopes covered in talus. The habitat is mostly barren and exposed to full sun and harsh winter weather. This is one of several goldenrods that are relict species, plants that were more common when conditions were colder and wetter. As glaciers receded, the area became warmer and drier, and plants such as this goldenrod were left in areas that most resemble the alpine climate to which it was adapted. It now persists in the high mountain peaks that have the harshest winter conditions. Few of the relict goldenrods remain as far south as this one. Other plants in this barren habitat include mainly grasses and sedges, but there are some other rare mountain herbs and trees including Heller's blazingstar (''Liatris helleri''), red spruce (''Picea rubens''), cliff avens (''Geum radiatum''), sandmyrtle (''Kalmia buxifolia''). The very habitat where the plant persists is an area popular for hiking and

sightseeing Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mor ...

, and much of it has been converted to roads, trails, parking lots, and other utilities. Remaining habitat is vulnerable to trampling. Other threats include

acid precipitation Acid rain is rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it has elevated levels of hydrogen ions (low pH). Most water, including drinking water, has a neutral pH that exists between 6.5 and 8.5, but aci ...

and climate change.

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7557966 spithamaea Flora of North Carolina Flora of Tennessee Plants described in 1842 Taxa named by Moses Ashley Curtis Taxa named by Asa Gray