This is typically a plant of cleared ground and is found on the periphery of our wetland area. The total plant can be 7 feet or more high with many branches which arch outwards. The individuals flowers are small, but they are massed together in plume-like arrays. The leaves, which can be as long as 6 inches, are lanceolate and have fine hairs on the underside.

Ball galls on goldenrod stems are caused by the gall fly (Eurosta solidaginis), a small fly similar to the fruit fly. The female fly injects her eggs into bud of the goldenrod, most commonly S. altissima, and this causes rapid growth in that area, resulting in a localized swelling or gall. The developing gall fly larva is subject to predation by birds, which peck a hole in the gall to get at the larva, or by two species of wasp. The obtuse wasp (Eurytoma obtusiventris) lays its egg inside the larva, while the giant wasp (E. gigantea) lays its egg inside the growing gall. Interesting information on goldenrod gall flies can be found at http://www.oswego.edu/wscp.