Goldenrod

Parts Usually Used

Leaves and flowers, dried

Description of Plant(s) and Culture

The creeping rootstock of this perennial plant produces a slender, simple stem growing to a height of 2-4 feet. The leaves are sessile, thin, entire, lanceolate, and covered with transparent dots. The alternate leaves grow on lower parts of the stem; they are smooth, stalkless, long and narrow. (Not toothed, but tiny prickles catch the skin when rubbed backward along the edge of the leaf).

The golden-yellow flower heads appear crowded on arching branches on the upper part of the stem, in terminal panicled racemes from July to September. This species has strongly anise-scented leaves that can be made into a pleasant beverage tea. Other varieties: Gray goldenrod (S. nemoralis), European goldenrod (S. virgaurea), Canada goldenrod (S. canadensis), there are 80 species.

Where Found

Sweet goldenrod can be found in dry, sandy soils in the eastern half of the United States. Dry open woods, heathland, hillsides, and fields, from New England to Florida, west to Missouri and Texas.

Medicinal Properties

Astringent, carminative, diaphoretic, diuretic, stimulant

Legends, Myths and Stories

Nearly 100 members of the species of Solidago are centered in North America, especially the eastern United States.

Uses

Historical herbalists prepared warm sweet goldenrod tea as a diaphoretic to promote sweating during fevers, while the cold tea was taken as a digestive stimulant and to address flatulence. The aromatic infusion of dried leaves and flowers was also employed as a beverage and to flavor other medicinal preparations. Traditional practitioners administered flower infusions for complaints such as kidney gravel, dropsy, colic, cystitis, colds, coughs, dysentery, diarrhea, measles, and to regulate menses.

Native American traditions included applying a lotion made from goldenrod flowers to bee stings. Externally, the plant was used as a wash for rheumatism, neuralgia, headaches, wounds, and long-standing sores, as well as an application for mouth sores. Nicholas Culpeper recorded that the herb was used to fasten teeth that were loose in the gums.

Bibliography

The Herb Book , by John Lust, Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. copyright 1974. Chinese Medicinal Herbs , compiled by Shih-Chen Li, Georgetown Press, San Francisco, California, 1973. Culpeper’s Complete Herbal & English Physician: Updated With 117 Modern Herbs , by Nicholas Culpeper, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, 1990, (reprint of 1814) The Herbalist Almanac , by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, copyright 1988, fifth printing, 1994 Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants , by Steven Foster and James A.

, Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10000 The Nature Doctor: A Manual of Traditional and Complementary Medicine , by Dr. A. , 27 Pine Street (Box 876) New Canaan, CT. 06840-0876. Copyright Verlag A. Vogel, Teufen (AR) Switzerland 1952, 1991 The Magic of Herbs , by David Conway, published by Jonathan Cape, Thirty Bedford Square, London, England. , Lotus Press, PO Box 325, Twin Lakes.

, Copyright 1988, published 1992 American Folk Medicine , by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, 1973 Indian Herbalogy of North America , by Alma R. , 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023 An Instant Guide to Medicinal Plants , by Pamela Forey and Ruth Lindsay, Crescent Books (January 27, 1992). The Rodale Herb Book: How to Use, Grow, and Buy Nature’s Miracle Plants (An Organic gardening and farming book) , edited by William H.

Hylton, Rodale Press, Inc. , 1974 The Healing Plants , by Mannfried Pahlow, Barron’s Educational Series, Inc. , Hauppauge, NY 11788, 1992