Foraging for Goldenrod, Avoid Poisonous Ragwort

Young goldenrod shoots growing up from
last year's dead plants. This is probably
the best age for the stalk + leaf combo

Identification difficulty before blooming: Novice 

Identification difficulty after blooming: Beginner

Goldenrod shoots and leaves are in season right now. 

There are over a hundred species of Goldenrod, all of which are members of the genus Solidago, and they are mostly native to the Americas, although some come from Eurasia. There are far too many to learn each one, though in time you will become familiar with the varieties that live near you. 

And there will be a goldenrod near you, as varieties of the plant are available from parts of South America, all the way north into Alaska and the northernmost Canadian provinces.

Goldenrod is generally considered to be an easy plant to identify, and it is, so long as it's in bloom. 

Before the flower blossoms, goldenrod has several look-a-like species, at least one of which is poisonous, and I don't think this look-a-like gets enough attention in the foraging world. 

But before we go over that, let's talk about goldenrod in general.

Goldenrod taste and uses

These goldenrod plants are about 4ft tall,
at this stage you can break off the top 
5 inches, as long as it is tender.
The leaves are also good here.

The entire above-ground portion of goldenrod is edible. The most common use is a tea, brewed either from the young leaves or the flowers, with the flower-tea more often served chilled. Tender leaves can also be eaten raw or cooked, though they are strongly flavored and are best mixed in with other greens, like in a salad. The young shoots (under 6 inches or so) and tender tips of growing plants can be used as a cooked green, though they are also quite strong in flavor. 

Leaves and plant tips should only be used before the flower buds form, after that they loose flavor and become tough.

You have to really enjoy strong-flavored plants to like goldenrod. The flavor has been described as similar to licorice, though I personally disagree. Perhaps some varieties do taste like black licorice, but in my experience, Forager Chef's description of "the Aster flavor" is more appropriate. It has a strong flavor unique to the aster family, which is otherwise hard to describe. 

Goldenrod identification

Variations plant-by-plant

There is a tremendous amount of variety between the goldenrod species. For this reason, I strongly recommend NOT harvesting Goldenrod shoots or plant tops until you have observed that individual patch for a full year, and seen the plant bloom, so you know you have a goldenrod. This is what I do. 

In this post we will try to go over "typical" goldenrod features, though I will  mention the exceptions to the norm.

A half-way grown goldenrod plant.
Note the thin stem and leaf growth

Goldenrod stalk/stem and growth

Goldenrod generally grows straight up without branching until the flowering tops. 

The young shoots are about the thickness of a pencil (.2 inch or so), and stay slim - only thickening to about twice that size at most. Stalks can be green or red, or green with red areas where the leaves meet the stem. 

Goldenrod stalks are generally hairless, but there are varieties with hair. . .

The plant will reach a final height of 3 - 7 feet, with height depending on species and growing conditions, though there are also dwarf varieties that are 1 - 3 feet -- see what I mean about tremendous variations?

Goldenrod leaves 

The leaves on MOST goldenrod plants (you didn't think we were done with variations, did you?) tend to be strongly lancolate. This means they are like the heads of lances or spears - very long, narrow ovals. 

Some will only be mildly lancolate (longer than they are wide), and some will even appear as elongated triangles. For the purpose of this post, we will focus on the standard, strongly lancolate species.

Most often, goldenrod leaves are hairless or only slightly hairy, but can be more hairy in some varieties.  They often have a corse, sandpaper-like feel to them, especially as they age. 

The leaves start as a basal rosette, and some species will keep a rosette at the base, though they are not the norm. As the stalk grows, leaves will grow directly off the stalk in opposite pairs. Additionally, adjacent pairs will grow opposite one another. This means for every 4 leaves, each one will grow in pointing a different direction, like a compass rose.

All goldenrod leaves have serrated/saw-toothed edges, and this is a very important Identification feature. Despite this, the serrations do vary quite a bit by species, because of course they do. 

In the picture shown above, the leaf on the left has serrations that cover the entire leaf edge, while the species on the right has smooth edges near the petiole (leaf stem) and at the leaf point, with serrations only near the middle of the lleaf. Other plants will have different serrations as well.

Leaf veins

One of the most important Identification features, the one which rules out the potentially-deadly look-a-like Senecio serra, tall ragwort, (more on this plant in the look-a-like section) is the way the leaves are veined. 

Tall ragwort has a strong central midrib vein, with smaller veins that branch off the midrib. Goldenrod species have a variety of vein types, but they all feature a series of strong parallel veins that originate at or near the petiole. This illustration above should help you understand what I mean. 

Two typical growth forms, with a spear- or cone-shaped cluster of flowers at the end of the plant

Goldenrod flowers

Flowers at many stages of blooming. Note the 
tube shape before blooming, and the frizzy
"pom-pom" look after

Most goldenrod plants only bloom at the top of the stalk, in a large triangular or spear-like cluster of tiny, but vibrantly yellow blooms. 

But of course, there are variations by species. Some will branch out at the top, with flower clusters at the end of each branch; others will have long, drooping branches with small clusters of flowers growing directly off the branches, snuggled in between leaves. Again, for the purpose of this post, we will be excluding those rare growth patterns. 

The flower head is a composite, the individual flowers are tiny, tube- or bell-shaped, and hang off of stem-like structures. Technically male and female flowers exist together, but only the female flowers are noticeable.  

When the flowers bloom, they remain tubes, but with frizzy or frilly edges, creating a blossom that looks like an elongated pom-pom. This frizzy look is an important identification feature, the flowers should NOT look like classic "daisy-style" blooms. 

Once goldenrod blooms, it's a lot easier to identify, a beginner's plant even. However, it still looks similar to tall ragwort, and you should still check the leaves and the flowers. 

Potential look-a-like plants

Poisonous tall ragwort: Senecio serra
Image not mine, from Wikipedia commons, public domain, 
no author listed

Tall ragwort, Senecio serra - poisonous, potentially deadly

Tall ragwort, also know as tall butterweed, butterweed groundsel, sawtooth groundsel, and others, is formally known as Senecio serra.

This plant is fortunately rather uncommon, though it can be locally abundant; it is found exclusively in the elevated foothills of the Rocky Mountains. There are confirmed sightings in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, western Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Nevada, Utah and New Mexico, with reported sightings in Arizona, the El Paso region of Texas, Northern Mexico, and Alberta and Saskatchewan in Canada.

As with all members of the genus Senecio, this plant is presumed to be deadly poisonous with repeated consumption. The plant does long-term damage to the liver and kidneys, ultimately leading to renal (kidney) failure, which may happen years after eating, and so the poisoning is hard to trace. Damage generally only happens after repeated consumption, such as seasonal eating of the genus. The difficulty in tracing Senecio damage might be one reason we hear little about the dangers of this plant in foraging circles. 

Senecio species flowers. Tall Ragwort
flowers will be very similar.

Tall ragwort has identical stem and leaf growth to goldenrod, and also produces bright-yellow, clustered flower heads. Leaves and stems aren't hairy, and leaf-edges are serrated. Once blooming, the flowers are distinctly different from those of goldenrod, as they aren't frilly-edged bells. Senecio serra has a more "classic" or "daisy-like" flower, with petals surrounding a disk.

Before flowering, however, the only reliable way to distinguish tall ragwort from goldenrod is to inspect the veination of the leaves. Tall ragwort leaves have a central midrib with small veins branching off, and goldenrod leaves all have some variation of parallel veins. See the illustration I made, above. 

Note, I personally have no images of Senecio serra, the flower closeup here is from a related Senecio species.

Edible horseweed, I'll do a post on this soon

Horseweed or fleabane, Erigeron canadensis/Conyza canadensis - edible 

Extremely widespread and common, Erigeron canadensis (also found as Conyza canadensis) goes by the common names horseweed or fleabane. I prefer the name horseweed, as fleabane is also sometimes used for other plants. 

Horseweed also grows tall and thin, with lancolate leaves that grow off the central stem/stalk. Unlike most goldenrod, horseweed stem/stalks are absolutely covered in hair, also, horsewerd leaves don't grow in opposite, parallel pairs. Instead, they circle round the stem/stalk one at a time, like a spiral staircase. Horseweed leaves are also serrated, but only a few, distinctive serrations along the leaf edge, unlike goldenrod. 

Horseweed is edible, though it should be tried in small amounts at first, as some people are apparently allergic. Hope to do a horseweed post soon.  

Goldenrod, allergies, pollinators, conservation and sustainable foraging 

With its conspicuously tall growth and bright-yellow flowers, goldenrod has an unearned reputation as a seasonal allergen. This is undeserved. Goldenrod pollen is too large and heavy to be wind-born, and can only be pollinated by pollinators. The actual reason for seasonal allergies is ragweed, members of the genus Ambrosia. These plants are much less noticeable, so many don't realize that they are the culprits. 

Goldenrod, Solidago, is a keystone genus for pollinators of all kinds, and must be preserved. Goldenrod iis one of the last plants to flower, and as such, is an ESSENTIAL late-season food source for bee colonies, especially in the southern states where colonies overwinter.  

If you harvest goldenrod at any point in the sseason, please practice sustainable foraging practices.  If you own land, or have influence in land management, please do not destroy goldenrod fields. If you are looking to plant beneficial wildflowers, consider a native-to-you goldenrod as part of that plan. 

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