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Solidago odora

Common name:	Sweet Goldenrod	Family:	Compositae
Author:	Aiton.	Botanical references:	43, 200, 274
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Eastern N. America - New Hampshire to Florida, west to Texas and Oklahoma.
Habitat:	Dry sterile soil or thin woodlands[43]. Woods and roadsides in Texas[274].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	2

Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Anise-scented Goldenrod [B], Anisescented Goldenrod [P], Fragrant-leaved Goldenrod [H], Sweet Golden-rod [L], Sweet Goldenrod [H,E], Sweet-scented Goldenrod [H],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	odora = fragrant; solida = solid;
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Asterales. Renamed to Asteraceae -- Aster family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Us; Us(Appalachia)

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 1.2m. It is hardy to zone 3. It is in flower from July to August. The scented flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects. It is noted for attracting wildlife. We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 2/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils, requires well-drained soil and can grow in heavy clay and nutritionally poor soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires dry or moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Cultivated Beds, Sunny Edge, Dappled Shade.

Edible Uses

Condiment; Leaves; Seed; Tea.

Leaves - cooked[177].
Seed[177]. No more details are given but the seed is very small and fiddly to harvest[K].
An aromatic, anise-flavoured tea is made from the dried leaves and dried fully expanded flowers[21, 55, 95, 183].
The blossoms are used as a flavouring[102].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Antiseptic; Aperient; Astringent; Carminative; Diaphoretic; Diuretic; Febrifuge; Stimulant; Tonic.

An infusion of the dried powdered herb is antiseptic[168].
The leaves make a very pleasant-tasting tea that is mildly astringent, carminative, diaphoretic, diuretic, febrifuge and stimulant[21, 95, 207, 222, 257]. It is useful in the treatment of coughs and colds, dysentery and ulceration of the intestines[4, 257].
The essential oil has been used as a diuretic for infants, as a local application for headaches and for the treatment of flatulence and vomiting[4].
The flowers are aperient, astringent and tonic[4]. An infusion is beneficial in the treatment of gravel, urinary obstruction and simple dropsy[4].
The root can be chewed as a treatment for sore mouths[257].

Other Uses

Dye; Essential.

An anise-scented essential oil is obtained from the plant[61]. It is used medicinally[207] and in perfumery - especially for scenting soaps[245].
Mustard, orange and brown dyes can be obtained from the whole plant[168].

Cultivation details

Succeeds in any moderately fertile moisture retentive soil in sun or semi-shade[200]. Tolerant of very poor sandy soils[200]. Grows well in heavy clay soils.
A rather greedy plant, it is apt to impoverish the soil[1].
The bruised leaves have a smell like a mixture of sassafras and aniseed[245].
The plant attracts various beneficial insects such as ladybirds, lacewings and hoverflies to the garden, these insects will help to control insect pests in the garden[201, 238].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in a cold frame. Only just cover the seed and do not allow the compost to become dry. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle, and grow them on for their first winter in pots. Plant them out into their permanent positions in spring or early summer.
Division in spring or autumn. Larger divisions can be planted out direct into their permanent positions. We have found it best to pot up the smaller divisions and grow them on in a lightly shaded position in a cold frame, planting them out once they are well established in the summer.

Scent

Leaves: Crushed Dried: The bruised leaves have a smell like a mixture of sassafras and aniseed[245].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[21] Lust. J. The Herb Book. Bantam books 1983 ISBN 0-553-23827-2
Lots of information tightly crammed into a fairly small book.

[43] Fernald. M. L. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co. 1950
A bit dated but good and concise flora of the eastern part of N. America.

[55] Harris. B. C. Eat the Weeds. Pivot Health 1973
Interesting reading.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[95] Saunders. C. F. Edible and Useful Wild Plants of the United States and Canada. Dover Publications 1976 ISBN 0-486-23310-3
Useful wild plants of America. A pocket guide.

[102] Kavasch. B. Native Harvests. Vintage Books 1979 ISBN 0-394-72811-4
Another guide to the wild foods of America.

[168] Grae. I. Nature's Colors - Dyes from Plants. MacMillan Publishing Co. New York. 1974 ISBN 0-02-544950-8
A very good and readable book on dyeing.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[201] Allardice.P. A - Z of Companion Planting. Cassell Publishers Ltd. 1993 ISBN 0-304-34324-2
A well produced and very readable book.

[207] Coffey. T. The History and Folklore of North American Wild Flowers. Facts on File. 1993 ISBN 0-8160-2624-6
A nice read, lots of information on plant uses.

[222] Foster. S. & Duke. J. A. A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and Central N. America. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1990 ISBN 0395467225
A concise book dealing with almost 500 species. A line drawing of each plant is included plus colour photographs of about 100 species. Very good as a field guide, it only gives brief details about the plants medicinal properties.

[238] Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, London. 1995 ISBN 0-7513-020-31
A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.

[245] Genders. R. Scented Flora of the World. Robert Hale. London. 1994 ISBN 0-7090-5440-8
An excellent, comprehensive book on scented plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no illustrations.

[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.

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Bibliography

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
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