Location

• Goldenrod (Solidago sp.) can typically be found along roadsides, in ditches and along the edges of wooded areas, but it can grow anywhere. The plants grow in locations where the soil has been disturbed.
  
  

Appearance

• Goldenrod plants reach 4 to 8 feet tall on a single stem with alternating leaves. The leaves can measure up to 5 inches long. The plants spread by rhizome and often grow in large colonies.
  
  

Flowers

• Goldenrods have numerous small yellow flowers, and the flowers of the panicles have ray-like petals. "The bloom is a pyramid-shaped cluster of many tiny flowers, 2 to 12 inches long," advises South Carolina's Informatioin Highway website.