Goldenrod gets a bad rap

The heat is on and the plant kingdom reigns. Meadows are rife with wildflowers and pollinators abuzz. Within this colorful mélange, you can’t miss the showy plumes of goldenrod. Few botanicals embody summer like this one. Goldenrod spends spring growing tall and opens its tiny sunny flowers at the season’s peak, refusing to give up the glory even into early fall. With over 30 species residing in the region, there are many types of goldenrod to meet. But perhaps you’re wary of palling around with this wildflower.

Goldenrod gets a bad rap. It blooms at the height of hay fever season, and with its showy flowers and abundant colonies seems a likely culprit. There’s a reason pollinators visit the blooms, wriggling their bodies about in the miniature daisy-like flowers: they are loaded with pollen – but sticky pollen. Goldenrod’s pollen is not wind-dispersed. It requires pollinators to carry pollen from one flower to the next. At the same time and place that goldenrod flowers, two not-so-showy plants also flower: ragweed and mugwort. These plants produce copious amounts of wind-dispersed pollen that surfs the breeze. Goldenrod keeps bad company, and takes the fall.

Yet goldenrod provides an antidote. Gather leaves and blossoms and steep a palmful in hot water for a delicious resinous tea. Like stinging nettle, goldenrod contains quercetin and rutin, two flavonoids that can stabilize the cells that release histamine. Not only that, its astringent quality, reminiscent of black tea, is helpful in tightening mucus membranes and reducing secretions.

But allergy season is not the only reason to drink goldenrod tea. The flavor is rich and earthy, touched with sun, and delightful with a spoonful of honey. Goldenrod is a traditional tea plant long enjoyed by indigenous people and appreciated by colonists too as an alternative to British-taxed black tea.

Pair goldenrod with stinging nettle for allergy relief or combine it with white pine needles to showcase its resinous flavor. Preserve goldenrod by snipping plants partway up the stem, bundle with twine and dry. When leaves feel crisp to the touch, simply strip and store in an airtight container for year-round enjoyment.