1	Leaves minutely scabrous, puberulent or short-villous		(2)
+	Leaves glabrous or nearly so		(4)
2 (1)	Leaves scabrous on abaxial faces (hairs short with swollen bases); bogs and swamps		35 Solidago patula
+	Leaves soft-villous or puberulent		(3)
3 (2)	Rays usually 7–12; leaves moderately to densely short-villous; spring blooming; coastal plain of North Carolina, South Carolina		33 Solidago verna
+	Rays 0–(1–2); leaves densely and finely puberulent; fall blooming; open woods, coastal plain and piedmont; North Carolina to Alabama (possibly Mississippi)		34 Solidago brachyphylla
4 (1)	Phyllaries striate, several nerves enlarged; involucres 4.5–6(–7) mm; Kentucky, West Virginia		30 Solidago faucibus
+	Phyllaries not striate, only main nerve enlarged (very rarely more striate in S. arguta); involucres 2.5–5.6 mm		(5)
5 (4)	Plants without slender stoloniferous rhizomes		29 Solidago arguta
+	Plants with slender stoloniferous rhizomes in addition to main, deeper rhizomes or caudices		(6)
6 (5)	Proximal leaves elliptic to obovate (ovate), acute or obtuse, with narrowly attenuate bases; distal cauline leaves quickly reduced, ascending to appressed		31 Solidago ludoviciana
+	Proximal leaves mostly ovate, acute to acuminate, with truncate to obtuse bases; distal cauline leaves gradually reduced, rarely appressed		32 Solidago tarda