Goldenrod
Solidago spp.
Family Asteraceae

Characteristics:
* Flowers tiny, yellow-rayed, in spikes, showy clusters, or drooping feathery spires. 60 to 70 species of goldenrod are known.
* Leaves either feather-veined or with parallel veins.
* Height: 1-4'.

Natural History:
* Flowers in late summer and early autumn.
* Habitat: The various species inhabit areas diverse as roadsides and dry waste places, rocky mountain summits, forests, prairies, and streambanks.
* Range: Throughout North America.
* Native.

Connections!
* A yellow dye was once made from goldenrod; its lovely yellow flowers with their brilliant pollen also plague many people with allergies.

* It was once thought that goldenrod was effective in treating bladder stones. A questionable source has it that in 1788, a ten-year-old boy took an extract of the plant for some months, and then passed quite a large amount of gravel; fifteen stones weighing over an ounce each, and fifty pea-sized pebbles.