Goldenrod Plant Profile
Latin name: Solidago spp. Means “to make whole”
Also known as S. canadensis - Canada goldenrod, Aaron’s rod, woundwort; S. virgaurea - European goldenrod; S. odora - blue mountain tea, sweet goldenrod
Family: Asteraceae (daisy)
Local to just about everywhere; open prairies, savannas, roadsides
Parts used: aerial parts; flower & leaf
Taste: bitter, pungent, astringent
Energetics: warm, dry, aromatic
Actions: anticatarrhal, anti-inflammatory, astringent, carminative, diuretic, antiseptic, antilithic, diaphoretic, vulnerary, expectorant, kidney trophorestorative
Affinities: upper respiratory tract, urinary system, muscles
Preparations: tea, tincture, elixir, infused honey, oil, salve, poultice, liniment
Cautions: safe except for those allergic to the daisy family
Reflection
When I saw that goldenrod has an affinity for both the upper respiratory and urinary system, I felt a little like I did when I first heard that calendula’s good for cuts and digestive upset. It sounded like miracle herb talk. But you dig just a little deeper and the link becomes clear. For calendula, it’s all about the thelial cells. With goldenrod, the missing link is mucus.
Mucus is a critical, if annoying, part of our body's immune response. Mucus helps us with pathogens by making it harder for them to make a home in us. However, you can have too much of a good thing. If you've been sick for awhile or have a chronic condition, this prolonged wet and leaky situation may leave your tissues too lax and soggy.
Goldenrod has a multi-pronged approach to these wet, stuck conditions: its antimicrobial action helps fight infection; its warming quality thins excess mucus and moves inflammatory crud from boggy tissues; and its astringency tones compromised mucus membranes.
Upper Respiratory
Goldenrod blooms in the late summer. With its bright yellow flowers and weedy proliferation, it’s easy to see why we blame goldenrod for our seasonal allergies. We see yellow pollen on porches, windows, cars, wherever we look — and there’s this very yellow plant that seems to be everywhere too. However, goldenrod’s pollen is too heavy and sticky to move through the air; it requires the bees. Goldenrod is taking the heat for a weed that blooms at the same time it does, the less showy, air-pollinated ragweed.
We should associate goldenrod with allergies — but as a remedy, not the cause. And it doesn’t have to be seasonal allergies for goldenrod to be relevant. You could be allergic to your roommate’s cat. The image of a person with upper respiratory issues who needs goldenrod: itchiness, redness, drippy, wet, stagnant mucus in the sinuses and down the throat. Here, goldenrod’s astringing and aromatic actions shine. Plus goldenrod, like nettle, contains the antioxidant quercetin. Quercetin stabilizes mast cells that are overactive in unnecessary allergic responses.
For allergies, Rosalee de la Forêt recommends formulating goldenrod with plantain and peach leaf, which sounds wonderful. I was in the arboretum in Boston last spring and sneezing up a storm. Ryn, one of my teachers, offered me tincture largely made of goldenrod and eyebright. It got me through the day.
Of course, allergies aren’t the only way excess, stuck mucus becomes a problem. You could simply have a cold that includes phlegmy lungs or a sore throat caused by inflammation and thick mucus. If you do, reach for goldenrod.
Urinary System
Goldenrod helps the urinary system the same way it helps the upper respiratory system: by warming up, clearing out, and restoring structure.
A lot of urinary issues express as stagnation and inflammation. I used to think if you have inflammation, you wouldn’t want any warm herbs. However, a gently warming herb like goldenrod can help with inflammation that comes from a depressive, cold tissue state. This warming movement pairs well with goldenrod’s diuretic action to flush out the infected area. Goldenrod’s volatile oils help as well. Goldenrod’s volatile oils are processed by the urinary system in whole form so their antimicrobial action can support you even as goldenrod is leaving your body.
Katja Swift describes goldenrod as cleaning up after its own stimulation (see Katja and Ryn Midura’s thorough Materia Medica course for more). You know when you are sweeping a room and toward the end you walk backwards, following yourself out with the broom, sweeping as you go? I imagine goldenrod doing that but instead of sweeping, it tones. Goldenrod’s astringency brings integrity back to overburdened, boggy mucus membranes. By doing so, goldenrod does not simply fight bacteria that’s present. Goldenrod’s cleverer than that. This plant makes it harder for an infection to come back. Lindsey Hesselhine puts it this way: goldenrod helps “the kidneys stay flushed of bacteria and tone[s] the mucous membranes to prevent infection from getting deeper in the tissue. Goldenrod helps thin the mucus and fluid for passage while astringing the tissues to allay further pathogenic invasion. Magic!"
Because goldenrod is a gentle herb you can work with it every day. If you are prone to kidney and/or urinary conditions that need warmth, movement, and tone, you may want to make a goldenrod a constant companion. Examples of these conditions could include kidney stones, urinary tract infections, interstitial cystitis, and prostatitis.
However, if you are in the throws of an infection, you will want to work with a stronger, more stimulating antimicrobial with an affinity for the urinary system like uva ursi or juniper berry. Once the infection has quieted, you could switch to goldenrod as a preventative.
Muscle and Wound Healer
Rebecca Altman calls goldenrod the “unsung hero of the muscle-pain world.” Similarly, jim mcdonald compares goldenrod to arnica (2013) when it comes to pain relief. Goldenrod speeds up the recovery process by reducing inflammation and keeping nourishment flowing in the area. Its tonifying action can also help with bruises, swelling, and other types of “stuck blood” like varicosities. Although you are likely to see improvement with any muscle group, it’s not surprising that goldenrod seems especially well-suited to the lower back near the kidneys.
As a vulnerary, goldenrod would also be appropriate to add to salves for cuts and burns. It’s a friend to those with mouth or digestive tract wounds too. Goldenrod could be a good addition to a gut-healing tea or mouth care blend. Katja Swift sings goldenrod’s praises in a podcast about her braces woes.
Emotional Support
In their Materia Medica course, Katja and Ryn describe goldenrod as a plant that helps you keep going when all you can do is take one step, and then another, and another. It has a sunshine quality and an endurance that can lift you up if you are prone toward cold, depressive, dragging states — physically and emotionally.
Matthew Wood compares goldenrod to “the tarot card showing a man walking along a road with a heavy burden on his back, a walking staff in his hand. His head is bent down, so that he does not see a church spire rising in the distance which shows that the distance is within his reach. The message of Goldenrod is to endure to reach the goal” (461).
When I read this, I thought Wood was referring to the 10 of Wands with the “burden on his back” and the building in the distance. Though in the Waite-Smith there’s no walking stick. So I’m not sure. Tarot readers and enthusiasts, if you know, email me!
But if it’s the 10 of Wands, it is a card about the culmination of fire, in its full spectrum of manifestations: willpower, resilience, direction, purpose but also burnout, carrying more than we can, losing sight of our surroundings in the face of a singular goal.
Sometimes we burnout but we can’t rest. At least not yet. Like our sluggish kidneys, overworked from sugar intake, or the congestion in our sinuses or our achy muscles, we are cold, damp, and lax. Movement seems impossible. Goldenrod comes in with its warming, pungent push onward, helping us to find the energy to move again, bit by bit.
Resources
Altman, Rebecca. “Herbs for Athletes.” Thorn & Wonder, Thorn & Wonder, 31 Oct. 2011, wonderbotanica.com/blog/2011/10/herbs-for-athletes-part-2.
Altman, Rebecca. “Herbs for Musculoskeletal Health.” Kings Road Apothecary newsletter. 18 May 2019.
de la Forêt, Rosalee. “The Goldenrod Plant.” Herbs with Rosalee, www.herbalremediesadvice.org/goldenrod-plant.html.
Groves Maria Noël. Body into Balance: an Herbal Guide to Holistic Self-Care. Storey Publishing, 2016.
Hesseltine, Lindsey. “Goldenrod Monograph.” HerbRally, www.herbrally.com/monographs/goldenrod.
mcdonald, jim. The Healing Revolution Excerpt # 4 w Jim McDonald. 4 Aug. 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbSJx-dskMs.
mcdonald, jim. “Surviving Sinusitis (And Other Catarrhal Catastrophes).” Herbcraft, herbcraft.org/sinusitis.html.
Swift, Katja, and Ryn Midura. Herbal Medicine for Beginners: Your Guide to Healing Common Ailments with 35 Medicinal Herbs. Althea Press, 2018.
Swift, Katja, and Ryn Midura. “Herbs for Braces & Constituents from the Plant’s Perspective.” The Holistic Herbalism Podcast, episode 021, 30 Mar. 2018, commonwealthherbs.com/021-herbs-for-braces-constituents-from-the-plants-perspective/.
Wood, Matthew. The Book of Herbal Wisdom: Using Plants as Medicine. North Atlantic Books, 1998.
