Goldenrod

Pine-Barren Goldenrod (Solidago fistulosa) is one of over 100 species of Solidago that occur mostly in North America with some species found in South America and Eurasia. Goldenrods bloom with gorgeous yellow blossoms in the fall and are a favorite for pollinating insects like bees and butterflies. This particular species can be found from Florida north to New Jersey and west into Louisiana.

Bounce like this: Goldenrod naturally contains rubber in its milky sap. One of the last projects that Thomas Edison undertook was attempting to extract rubber from Goldenrod. Edison studied many species of Goldenrod and especially a type of Goldenrod that grew to over 12 feet in height and yielded a high percentage of rubber from its sap. Edison created a long lasting and resilient rubber from the sap of Goldenrod, examples of which can still be seen today on display at his laboratory. Edison turned his Goldenrod research over to the US Government for use but his Goldenrod rubber was put aside during WWII when synthetic rubber was developed and could be cheaply produced.

Henry Ford gifted Thomas Edison with a Model T car that had Goldenrod rubber tires. This Goldenrod and another species were planted beside the Henry Ford Sycamore in the Richard T. Bowers Historic Tree Grove at MOSI. In the coming years we hope to add more latex bearing plants in this area of the garden.

Nothing to sneeze at: Although Goldenrod has a bad reputation as a allergy nightmare, it is actually pretty harmless to the sinuses. Goldenrod pollen is heavy and sticky, designed to be pollinated by insects. Because of its weight, this pollen isn’t distributed on the breeze and is less likely to irritate the sinuses. Ragweed (Ambrosia) has a much lighter weight pollen that gets caught in the breeze and is more likely to cause your sneezes.

What’s in a name?: Solidago comes from the medieval Latin word soldago which was the name of a healing medicinal herb. This herb’s name come from the Latin word soldare “to strengthen or make whole”.