A handsome line of seaside goldenrod in seed marks the height of the tidal zone at the mouth of the Herring River in Wellfleet, where the first leg of the Great Island trail emerges from the pitch pines. Tolerant of both salt and drought, Solidago sempervirens can make its home down by the brackish waters of a salt marsh or further up in the dune. The Solidago genus is one of the most important backbones of our local ecology: goldenrods host over 100 native species of moths and butterflies. Our seaside goldenrod is covered with bees when it bursts into yellow blooms around Labor Day. —Joe Beuerlein
