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NAME: Goldenrod

SPECIES / FAMILY:  Solidago Odora / Asteraceae or Compositae

OTHER COMMON NAME(S):  Sweet Goldenrod

CONDITIONS: sun, moist soil
 

PARTS:	EDIBLE	TASTE	RAW/COOK	SEASON
All
Shoots
Leaves		licorice	DRY/COOK	Summer
Stalk/Stem
Buds
Flowers		licorice	DRY/COOK	Summer
Fruits
Pods
Seeds
Nuts
Roots
Bark

 

PORTION: small

 

COMMENT:  An aromatic, anise-flavoured tea is made from the dried leaves and dried fully expanded flowers. The blossoms are used as a flavouring. (1)  "After the Boston Tea Party of 1773 the colonists had only one good alternative: Goldenrod tea, and not just any Goldenrod, but the Solidago odora (sol-i-DAY-go oh-DOR-uh.) It became known as “Liberty tea” and was even exported to China." (2)

 

CAUTION:

 

NUTRITION/MEDICINAL: 

o   Antiseptic;  Aperient;  Astringent;  Carminative;  Diaphoretic;  Diuretic;  Febrifuge;  Stimulant;  Tonic. (1)

o   https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-84/goldenrod 

 

RELATED:  Many species and they hybridize with each other:

• The most common Goldenrod in Eastern US - https://pfaf.org/User/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Solidago+canadensis

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldenrod

• https://naturallist.com/types-of-goldenrod
• https://gardenerspath.com/plants/flowers/goldenrod-types

POISONOUS LOOK-A-LIKES: 

 

OTHER USES: Dye;  Essential. An anise-scented essential oil is obtained from the plant. It is used medicinally and in perfumery - especially for scenting soaps. Mustard, orange and brown dyes can be obtained from the whole plant. (1) Bees, butterflies, and woodpeckers use the Goldenrod. “Woodpeckers, apparently experts in finding hidden food, peck open the galls and eat the growing insect inside.”(2) “Thomas Edison experimented with goldenrod to make rubber, which it exudes naturally. In the 1930’s he managed to get 12% rubber out of each plant and Henry Ford gave Edison a Model T with tires made out of Goldenrod rubber. Edison turned his rubber research on the Goldenrod over to the government which carried it on until synthetic rubber was discovered during WWII. That ended Goldenrod as a source of rubber. However, its rubber is very strong and long-lasting, read better than synthetic rubber.”(2)

 

SOURCE LINKS (may include nutritional and medicinal info, plus other uses):

1. https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Solidago+odora (common goldenrod - https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=solidago)
2. http://www.eattheweeds.com/solidago-odora-liberty-tea-2
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldenrod
4. http://www.foragingtexas.com/2006/12/goldenrod.html (good photos)
5. http://www.ediblewildfood.com/goldenrod.aspx  (good photos)
6. https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/canada-goldenrod