It is native to the eastern and central parts of the United States and Canada, from Nova Scotia west to Ontario and the Dakotas, and south as far as Alabama and Louisiana.

[5][2][6] The plant is called the "zigzag goldenrod" because the thin, wiry stem zigs and zags back and forth, changing direction at each node (leaf attachment point).

The plant bears sometimes as many as 250 small yellow flower heads, some at the end of the stem, others in the axils of the leaves.

The leaves are very broad, almost round, but with an elongated tip at the end and large teeth along the edges.

[7] This species is host to the following insect induced galls: external link to gallformers