Marilyn's Photos - Sep 24 2025 - Golddenrod Lies

 

Goldenrod is in full bloom.  It is a wonderful golden yellow that goes well with Maples, Locusts and other yellow fall foliage.  Our current culture thinks Goldenrod is bad and responsible for allergies.  Somehow it got confused with Ragweed and seems to carry this burden.  That's likely because people today aren't able to identify plants very well.  Goldenrod has been in use for more than 700 years in European herbal medicine along with Indigenous traditions in North America.    Whata else might it be famous for?  Can Goldenrod produce rubber?  It was used by Thomas Edison to create tires for his Model T.  That wouldn't surprise me as he tested over 17,000 plants.  One article says he created a 12-foot-tall Goldenrod plant that was up to12 percent rubber. A set of tires was made from golderod rubber and they were put on the Model T.  While four of them wore out, the fifth, the spare, still exists.  It sits in the preserved estate of Edison, along with his lightbulbs that still work after more than 100 years and the various experimental equipment.  That's at the Fort Myers Florida estate.  Here it is with a little Aster flower. One of our North American natives, it is a significant plant for pollinators and insects.

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