Racemes or branches of the panicle either short and arranged
along a more or less elongated axis, or elongated and
ascending, scarcely recurved, forming a narrow more or less
elongated panicle (5-10 dm. high)
=Goldenrod, Solidago speciosa var. angustata.=

162b. Racemes or branches of the panicle usually elongated,
spreading outward, usually recurved, forming a widened
panicle; leaves distinctly serrate --163.

163a. Leaves pinnately veined (5-12 dm. high)
=Goldenrod, Solidago ulmifolia.=

163b. Leaves 3-5-ribbed (5-20 dm. high) --164.

164a. Leaves glabrous on both sides
=Goldenrod, Solidago serotina.=

164b. Leaves slightly pubescent beneath
=Goldenrod, Solidago serotina var. gigantea.=

165a. Ray-flowers pistillate (the 2-lobed style protrudes from their
base) --166.

165b. Ray-flowers with neither stamens nor pistil --174.

166a. Principal leaves more than 2 dm. long (1-3 m. high; summer)
--167.

166b. Principal leaves less than 1.5 dm. long --168.

167a. Leaves deeply lobed =Compass Plant, Silphium laciniatum.=

167b. Leaves toothed or serrate =Elecampane, Inula helenium.=

168a. Leaves narrowly linear (3-6 dm. high; late summer)
=Sneezeweed, Helenium tenuifolium.=

168b. Leaves of a broader shape --169.

169a. Heads 1-2 cm. wide; flowers in spring and early summer (2-8 dm.
high) (Ragwort) --170.

169b. Heads 2-5 cm. wide; flowers in late summer and autumn --173.

170a. Basal leaves cordate at base =Ragwort, Senecio aureus.=

170b. Basal leaves narrowed to the base --171.

171a. Basal leaves obovate =Ragwort, Senecio obovatus.=

171b. Basal leaves oblong =Ragwort, Senecio balsamitae.=

172a. Introduced annual in waste places (1-4 dm. high; spring and
summer) =Groundsel, Senecio vulgaris.=

172b. Native biennial in moist ground (3-8 dm. high; summer)
=Squaw Weed, Senecio discoideus.=

173a. Leaves 2-5 cm. long, sharply spinulose-serrate; involucre viscid
(3-6 dm. high; summer) =Gum Plant, Grindelia squarrosa.=

173b. Leaves 5-12 cm. long, merely s