Golden Rod

(goldenrod photograph taken by bruce mccay and license under creative commons you can find more of bruce's work at flickr)




The Golden Rod is a plant that blooms late summer early fall found all over Alabama. You mostly see it in fields and meadows. It multiplies like crazy and drives your allergies nuts , multitasking! Neither less, it has beautiful clusters of daisy like sunny yellow blooms that the bees and other insects seem to swarm all over for.
This flowering plant is found in the genus species same as the Aster. It used to be the Alabama State flower but as of September 6, 1927, but was dropped to introduce another flower (the Camilla) that isn't so pesky and invasive.
Parts of the Goldenrod flower can be eaten. This flower's pollen has been eaten by all the bees, bugs, and caterpillars around, no people allowed they said. It's used to make teas and some nutritional supplements even though it does cause hay fever. It is used to cure inflammation of the kidneys, gall stones, stomach issues, colds, and digestion.
If you have cattle, donkeys and equine, they love to munch on the plant. The bees have to share a little bit because a cow will eat it all day long as long as they have it in their meadow. Don't worry, even though, it is invasive, doesn't mean it's anything like bitterweed or lantana. It's not poisonous so it's perfectly alright