Solidago cumberlandensis (Asteraceae), a New Species from the Cumberland Plateau of Tennessee

A new species, Solidago cumberlandensis Dattilo (Asteraceae), is described based on morpholog­ical traits and molecular data. This species has a novel combination of diagnostic characters for Solidago L. ser. Erectae (G. Don) Hoffman, where it is provisionally placed, most prominently including an extensive net­work of stoloniferous rhizomes producing colonies of ster­ile rosettes that significantly outnumber inflorescence-bearing stems during the flowering season. It is also distinctive for the DNA sequence of the nuclear ribo­somal ITS region, differing from all other reported Sol­idago species. Solidago cumberlandensis has been doc­umented from full-shade to part-sun situations within forested, narrow, flat to gently sloping riparian zones of high-gradient streams flowing through gorges of the Cumberland Plateau of Tennessee.