Goldenrod
Solidago virgaurea
Family · Asteraceae · Harmless
The upright wand covered in yellow heads at the end of summer, on mountain wood edges. It is the only goldenrod native to Europe, and the ones on road verges are American.
Oak woods · Uplands · Roadsides and waste ground · Streams and ditches
Also known asEuropean goldenrod, woundwort
How to tell it
An upright, little branched stem, thirty centimetres to a metre. Alternate, elongated toothed leaves, the lower ones with a winged stalk. Yellow heads a centimetre across, with clearly visible rays, gathered in a narrow elongated panicle, not a broad pyramid. Native, and in natural places.
What it is confused with
Canada goldenrod
Solidago canadensis
The American one is far taller, makes a broad pyramid plume with branches arched to one side, and forms dense stands on abandoned ground; the native is shorter, its inflorescence narrow, and lives in woodland and mountains. The American one is invasive.
What it is for
A traditional European medicinal plant, used as an infusion for the urinary tract and still present in registered herbal medicine. Traditional use. Do not confuse the native with the invasive American goldenrods, which are another thing.
With documented traditional uses. Not a therapeutic indication and not a dose.