Pretty much anywhere you find goldenrod, you can see goldenrod ball galls. These round formations on the stem of the goldenrod plant are winter homes for the larvae of the Goldenrod Gall Fly (Eurosta solidaginis). By this time of the winter, many of the galls have holes excavated by chickadees or woodpeckers, who find the larvae a tasty winter treat. For more on ball galls, see How Galling!
While not quite as common as ball galls, at least around here, goldenrod bunch galls can often be found in patches of goldenrod as well. They are easily identified. They look like flowers with many woody petals set at the tip of the goldenrod stem. Bunch galls are caused by a midge, Rhopalomyla solidaginis, and are associated with a particular species of goldenrod, Solidago canadensis.
The midge lays its egg in a leaf bud. After the larva hatches, the stem stops growing longer, even though the goldenrod continues to produce leaves. This results in a tight, flower-like cluster of foliage at the top of the goldenrod’s main stalk. An assortment of insects, including spiders and other midge species, may make the bunch gall home.
Willow House Chronicles 
Another “dried flower” to look for. There are goldenrods just over the back fence; I should check them out.
Very informative about the galls. I realize more and more the interconnectedness of all nature when I read about subjects like you presented on your post — spiders, woodpeckers et.al. using the galls as homes and food sources! — barbara
I’m always on the lookout for galls, but didn’t find some on Goldenrod yet. (Both Solidago canadensis and Solidago gigantea are invasive species here. Our native Solidago virgaurea has become rather rare.)
So I was interested to read your article, and searched for those gall flies and midges on the internet. And indeed, although the solidangines have travelled the Ocean, their guests were left behind in America, or at least they didn’t arrive in Belgium and the Netherlands…
LB, it’s fun to have another something to watch for on hikes. The dried flowers look nothing like ‘galls’.
Barbara, thank you. It is amazing how interconnected the natural world is, and how much goes on right before our eyes that we never see.
Anne, Thank you for a view from across the ocean! There are many, many European invasives here. It seems odd to think of our plants as invasive there. One account I read noted that bunch gall is a species indicator. That is, it occurs only on Canada Goldenrod, Solidago canadensis, and that higher susceptibility to bunch galls is an inherited trait within populations of Canada Goldenrod.
I’ve been finding oak apple galls all over the woodlands this winter. Your photos are just lovely!
Ewwww…………..
[…] goldenrod (Solidago) has a fly larvae at the tip, creating the bunched leaves, as well as a white egg mass from an unknown […]
Hello, I just found this post via Google search. Very informative! You might enjoy my image of one of these here:
http://sunearthsky.com/2014/02/10/cold-copper-2/
Wonderful site. Thank you!