Proximal midcauline leaf blades elliptic, moderately hairy. 2n = 36, 54.

Flowering Sep-Oct. Shaded mesic woods and thickets, Piedmont and Appalachian mountains; (20-)150-1000+ m; Ala., Ga., Ky., Miss., N.C., S.C., Tenn., Va.

The broadest-leaved forms of the species occur in var. flaccidifolia. They can be confused with Solidago flexicaulis but lack the flexuous distal stem of the latter. A collection seen from north-central Mississippi is significantly disjunct from the nearest populations in extreme northeastern Alabama.