Flower:

A flat-topped cluster 2 to 5 inches across of 3/8-inch yellow flowers, each with 6 to 13 short petals (ray flowers) and a yellow center with up to 35 disk flowers. The rays are sometimes broad with rounded tips, sometimes more narrow with pointed tips.

Leaves and stem:

There are both basal leaves, and leaves alternating up the stem. All leaves are a grayish green color, generally oval in shape, rough from short bristly hairs, and mostly toothless but may have a few rounded, shallow teeth. The basal leaves are up to 5½ inches long and 1½ inches wide and stand generally erect on long stalks.

The alternating leaves are about 2 inches long, become progressively smaller as they go up the stem, may have wavy edges, are fairly stiff (hence the common name), tend to point upward, and clasp the stem. Stems are stout and rough from short bristly hairs.

Fruit:

Fruit is a dry seed with a tuft of white or light brown hairs to carry them off in the wind.

Seed is softly angled, 2 to 2½ millimeters long, sometimes a bit hairy, with faint lines or ridges along its length and ripens from pale tan to brown. Much of the seed is eaten by insects before it ripens.

Notes:

Stiff Goldenrod commonly goes by Latin name Oligoneuron rigidum but the accepted name in Minnesota is Solidago rigida. There are 3 recognized subspecies, 2 of which are found in Minnesota. Subsp. rigida is most common; subsp. humilis is shorter, only to about 2 feet tall, more densely hairy overall with more compact, more dome-shaped flower clusters.