Solidago shortii (Asteraceae), Short's Goldenrod, is an endangered species presently known from a series of closely clustered subpopulations in the vicinity of Blue Licks, Kentucky. Short's Goldenrod was first discovered and described from a now-extirpated population at the Falls of the Ohio River, Kentucky. Our goals are to test two hypotheses: 1) Short's Goldenrod is morphologically distinct from other goldenrod species and 2) specimens from the extant Blue Licks populations are taxonomically identical with the extirpated Falls of the Ohio plants. We tested these hypotheses with a combination of field and herbarium approaches. Principal Components Analysis and Discriminant Function Analysis of measurements of 19 vegetative and reproductive characters of Short's Goldenrod and selected congeners reveal a suite of diagnostic characters for Short's Goldenrod. All specimens from both Blue Licks and Falls of the Ohio share these traits and thus appear taxonomically identical.

Key words: Asteraceae, endangered species, Kentucky, Solidago shortii