Leaves: relatively less firm, basal tapering (proximal especially) strigillose or strigillose. 2n = 18, 36. Flowering Sep-Oct. Dry woods; 0-400+ m; Ala., Ark., Ga., Ill., Kans., La., Miss., Mo., Okla., S.C., Tenn., Tex. Variety boottii is infrequently found in Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Tennessee. It comprises the race of the species with hairier leaves, occurring in drier woods and for the most part growing in the southwestern portion of the range.

G. H. Morton annotated the type of Solidago dispersa Small as possibly being S. arguta introgressed with S. ulmifolia. Application of the name remains uncertain.