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A Forager’s Year

No. 124

Canada goldenrod

Solidago canadensis; Solidago altissima; Solidago gigantea

tall and giant goldenrod

Flowers, buds & pollen flowers (fresh, bright flower heads stripped from the stems, or dried for tea)

Drawing: Britton & Brown, Illustrated Flora (1913)

Find
Common in the right habitat
Effort
Grab & eat
ID risk
Careful
Origin
native
Safety marks
  • Toxic lookalike
Uses
  • Eat raw / salad
  • Cooked vegetable / soup
  • Baking & desserts
  • Tea

Season

  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec

in season peak

Picking: No park we checked allows it. Anywhere else, ask whoever owns or runs the land. See Where you may pick.

What these mean

Find

1 Everywhere · 2 Common in the right habitat · 3 Patchy · 4 Elusive. This is about how much there is, not whether you may pick it. It is based on iNaturalist sightings within 25 km (about 15 miles) of downtown DC, counted on October 3, 2026. The four rules that each plant’s “Find” reason refers to: (A) the estimate is the confirmed sightings, plus the unconfirmed ones (scaled down where the plant has lookalikes in its genus), plus the sightings marked as planted; (B) the tier by estimate: 1,500 or more is tier 1, 250–1,499 tier 2, 50–249 tier 3, under 50 tier 4; (C) tier 1, Everywhere, also needs a source saying the plant is common in lawns, sidewalks, yards or gardens, vacant lots or towns, or at least one DC street tree of it per km of sidewalk, otherwise it is tier 2; (D) if a reliable source says the plant is rare in this region, or that wild plants rarely bear the harvest, only planted sightings count. iNaturalist is a website and phone app where people post photos of the plants and animals they see. A sighting is “research grade” when other users have confirmed what it is; “needs ID” sightings are not confirmed yet, and “cultivated” ones are marked as planted.

Effort

1 Grab & eat · 2 Quick kitchen prep (under about 30 minutes) · 3 Real work (hours, or cooking needed for safety) · 4 Project (days or equipment). Scored on the simplest worthwhile use; each plant’s page says why.

ID risk

How hard it is to harvest safely. Beginner: no dangerous lookalike, and the edible part is not easily confused with a toxic part. Careful: a toxic lookalike, or toxic parts that end up in the harvest unless removed (for example elderberry stems, unripe ground cherries), or other parts of the plant rated medium-or-higher toxicity, with reliable features to separate them. Expert only: a potentially deadly lookalike that is hard to separate, or (for not-recommended harvests like pokeweed) a plant whose safe preparation can’t be guaranteed. Toxic parts that are obviously separate and thrown away anyway (pits, seeds, skins) don’t raise it; the Toxic parts mark carries that warning.

Native or not, and the invader stars

Origin is where the plant comes from: native, non-native, or mixed (the harvest covers both). The stars rate plants on invasive plant lists: ★★★ Virginia DCR “High” or Maryland prohibited invasive · ★★ Virginia “Medium” · ★ Virginia “Low” · ☆ listed only by the Maryland Invasive Species Council or the Mid-Atlantic Plant Invaders guide (advisory) · no stars: native or not listed.

Safety marks and flags

Deadly lookalike / Toxic lookalike: a cited source names a lookalike of that danger, recorded near DC (an iNaturalist sighting within 25 km, a DC street tree, or a Smithsonian listing for DC) and looking like the part you eat. Other lookalikes are still listed, marked “not recorded near DC” or as not looking like the part you eat. Deadly means a source says eating it may be fatal or calls it deadly, or NC State rates it high severity with life-threatening symptoms (sources sometimes disagree; for example Virginia creeper). Each plant’s Lookalikes list says how to tell them apart; “harmless (may be edible)” lookalikes are listed so you know a mix-up isn’t dangerous. Cook first: cooking is needed for safety (for daylilies it is a precaution, not a sourced requirement). Eat in moderation: a source says to limit quantity or frequency (for example oxalates in sorrels and dock, ginkgotoxin, safrole). Spray risk: a source says the plant is commonly treated with herbicide in parks or lawns (invasive control, lawn weeds) or, for ginkgo, sprayed to stop fruiting. Contamination: a source says the plant concentrates pollutants. Each plant’s Safety flags list gives the details and sources.

Seasons

Start, peak and end are given in thirds of a month: early, mid or late. A plant counts as in season for a month if it is in season at any point in that month. Some greens and roots have a second window, in spring or fall; their page shows each window. A season that runs across New Year is shown as one window.

What it looks like

A tall native perennial of the daisy family, 2 to 6 feet high, that spreads by underground stems into large, dense patches (NC State; USDA NRCS). Its leaves are alternate, lance-shaped and toothed, with three main veins (NC State; USDA NRCS; Edible Wild Food). Canada and tall goldenrod have hairy upper stems; giant goldenrod has a smooth stem, often with a whitish bloom (USDA NRCS; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center). The three look so similar that they share several common names (Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center). In late summer and fall, tiny yellow flower heads, 1/8 to 1/4 inch long, crowd the upper side of arching branches in a plume- or pyramid-shaped cluster at the top of the stem (NC State; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center). Nature’s Restaurant says the flowers taste nice but are only good while newly opened and bright; tea from goldenrod is bitter (Edible Wild Food).

Safety

No poisoning of people is reported for these goldenrods in the extension and government sources checked; NC State says young goldenrod leaves are edible and the plant is used for herbal tea. Goldenrod can cause allergies: a 2010 study found that goldenrod and latex allergies can cross-react (Journal of Investigational Allergology and Clinical Immunology), and the European Medicines Agency says people allergic to daisy-family (Compositae) plants should not use goldenrod. The European Medicines Agency also says people with a skin allergy (contact dermatitis) to daisy-family plants should avoid touching goldenrod, and Eat The Weeds says goldenrod has been linked to cases of dermatitis. The European Medicines Agency advises against goldenrod tea for people with severe heart or kidney disease who must limit fluids, for those taking diuretic (water) pills, during pregnancy or breastfeeding, and for children under 12, and gives 2 to 4 weeks as the usual length of use; its guidance concerns European goldenrod. The European Medicines Agency also lists allergic reactions and digestive upsets as possible side effects of goldenrod tea. Toxic lookalikes: ragworts and groundsels, which can damage the liver, can look similar to goldenrod to a new forager (Herbal Academy; NC State lists their liver toxicity). Their flower heads are daisy-like, in flat-topped clusters, or have no petals at all, and their leaves are usually lobed, while goldenrod’s tiny heads are massed in cone- or plume-shaped clusters (Clallam County weed board; NC State; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center). Ragweed blooms at the same time but has greenish flowers in spikes and deeply lobed, fern-like leaves; it causes hay fever and skin rashes (Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center; NC State). Eat The Weeds warns that a toxic fungus sometimes found on goldenrod leaves can make tea from them harmful, and that the leaves are toxic to sheep; no extension or government source checked confirms either (USDA rates Canada goldenrod’s palatability for sheep as fair to good), but NC State says rust, powdery mildew and leaf spot may occur on goldenrods, so use only clean, unspotted plants. Watch for bees and wasps when gathering, and shake each flower stalk to drop the crab spiders that hide in the flowers (Nature’s Restaurant).

Lookalikes

Safety flags

Safety marks and flags: what this means

Deadly lookalike / Toxic lookalike: a cited source names a lookalike of that danger, recorded near DC (an iNaturalist sighting within 25 km, a DC street tree, or a Smithsonian listing for DC) and looking like the part you eat. Other lookalikes are still listed, marked “not recorded near DC” or as not looking like the part you eat. Deadly means a source says eating it may be fatal or calls it deadly, or NC State rates it high severity with life-threatening symptoms (sources sometimes disagree; for example Virginia creeper). Each plant’s Lookalikes list says how to tell them apart; “harmless (may be edible)” lookalikes are listed so you know a mix-up isn’t dangerous. Cook first: cooking is needed for safety (for daylilies it is a precaution, not a sourced requirement). Eat in moderation: a source says to limit quantity or frequency (for example oxalates in sorrels and dock, ginkgotoxin, safrole). Spray risk: a source says the plant is commonly treated with herbicide in parks or lawns (invasive control, lawn weeds) or, for ginkgo, sprayed to stop fruiting. Contamination: a source says the plant concentrates pollutants. Each plant’s Safety flags list gives the details and sources.

ID risk
Careful
Why
Toxic lookalikes: ragworts and groundsels (Senecio, Packera and tansy ragwort) can look similar to a new forager (Herbal Academy); their flower heads are daisy-like in flat-topped clusters or have no petals, and their leaves are lobed, while goldenrod’s tiny heads are massed in cone- or plume-shaped clusters over toothed, unlobed leaves (Clallam County weed board; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center; USDA NRCS). Ragweed, blooming at the same time, has greenish flowers and fern-like leaves (Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center).
Soil risk
moderate
ID risk: what this means

How hard it is to harvest safely. Beginner: no dangerous lookalike, and the edible part is not easily confused with a toxic part. Careful: a toxic lookalike, or toxic parts that end up in the harvest unless removed (for example elderberry stems, unripe ground cherries), or other parts of the plant rated medium-or-higher toxicity, with reliable features to separate them. Expert only: a potentially deadly lookalike that is hard to separate, or (for not-recommended harvests like pokeweed) a plant whose safe preparation can’t be guaranteed. Toxic parts that are obviously separate and thrown away anyway (pits, seeds, skins) don’t raise it; the Toxic parts mark carries that warning.

Soil risk: what this means

Based on the part you eat, following the urban-soil lead guidance on the Field safety page: higher for greens, shoots and roots; moderate for flowers; low for fruit, nuts and sap.

Field safety for every outing (poison ivy, ticks, soil, and more)

When to pick

Starts
mid Aug
Peak
early Sep–late Sep
Ends
early Nov

Goldenrod flowers in late summer and fall. Around DC, flowering sightings start in mid August, peak in September and thin out after mid October, with a few into early November (iNaturalist). NC State Extension gives August to October for Canada goldenrod and August through November for tall goldenrod in North Carolina. Pick only fresh, bright flowers: once the color starts to fade they are no longer good to eat (Nature’s Restaurant), and Foraging Texas says flower clusters more than one-third brown are too old to use.

How the dates were worked out

Every start, peak and end was re-checked in October 2026. “Sourced” means a source opened during the check states that timing for the DC or Mid-Atlantic area. “Estimated” means no source states it exactly; the reason, the evidence and the source links are under “How the dates were worked out” on each plant’s page. Peaks are often estimated, because few sources name a peak. iNaturalist evidence means research-grade sightings near DC, by month, of the plant at that stage (for example, in fruit). iNaturalist is a website and phone app where people post photos of the plants and animals they see. A sighting is “research grade” when other users have confirmed what it is; “needs ID” sightings are not confirmed yet, and “cultivated” ones are marked as planted.

Season basis: sourced

Start

sourced

Peak

sourced

End

sourced

Evidence

start: DC iNaturalist research-grade flowering records by third of the month (days 1-10, 11-20, 21-end): 0 in early August, 3 in mid August, 2 in late August. NC State (statewide NC, Piedmont included) for Canada goldenrod: 'Blooms from August to October.' | peak: DC iNaturalist research-grade flowering records: 14 of 22 in September (1 early, 5 mid, 8 late), against 5 in August and 3 in October. | end: NC State (statewide NC) for tall goldenrod, which makes up most of the harvest here: 'Blooms from August through November.' DC iNaturalist flowering records including needs-ID: 1 in late October, 3 in early November, none later. Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center bloom time for tall goldenrod: Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov.

Where to look

Sunny old fields, meadows, roadsides and clearings, where it grows in large patches; logged most along the Four Mile Run stream valley and the C&O Canal towpath, but parks there ban picking flowers, so gather on private land with the owner’s permission.

Habitats
disturbed ground & waste places, vacant lots, old fields & meadows, woods edges, trailsides & thickets, floodplain & stream-valley forest, wetlands, marshes & pond edges
Habitats: what this means

Listed where the plant’s own sources place it in that habitat. “Disturbed ground & waste places” means a cited source places it on disturbed areas, sites, soil or ground, on waste places or waste ground, on construction or abandoned building sites (old home sites count), on rubble or in strip mines. When the source gives examples of the disturbed places, at least one example must be of that kind. Examples that do not count: natural or forestry disturbance (treefall gaps, fire, windthrow, flood scour, old riverbanks and creeks, clear-cuts); roadsides, railroads and rights-of-way; and abandoned fields, pastures and farmland, which are “Old fields & meadows”. “Vacant lots” only where a source says vacant or empty lots.

Most-logged places

None of the most-logged places allows picking.

No picking here (5 places)
  • Four Mile Run stream valley (Arlington/Alexandria)

    7 sightings · Legal to pick: no · see them on iNaturalist

    Look but don’t pick: Arlington County park rules (flora shall not be removed or disturbed) and Alexandria’s permit rule both apply.

  • C&O Canal NHP (towpath, Georgetown to Great Falls MD and beyond)

    5 sightings · Legal to pick: no · see them on iNaturalist

    Look but don’t pick: the C&O Canal compendium covers only edible fruits, nuts, berries and mushrooms, and NPS parks can never designate leaves, flowers, roots or sap. Of these, 2 are at Carderock.

  • Clark’s Crossing Park

    4 sightings · Legal to pick: no · see them on iNaturalist

    Look but don’t pick: Fairfax County parks ban removing any plant part without written permission.

  • Sligo Creek Stream Valley Park

    4 sightings · Legal to pick: no · see them on iNaturalist

    Look but don’t pick: Montgomery/Prince George’s parks (M-NCPPC) ban harvesting vegetation without a permit.

  • Anacostia Park

    3 sightings · Legal to pick: no · see them on iNaturalist

    Look but don’t pick: a NACE gathering site, but this item is not on the compendium’s list.

Most-logged places: what this means

The places with the most research-grade iNaturalist sightings within 25 km of downtown DC (re-counted in October 2026 over every named place, campuses, condominiums and private grounds included), each marked legal to pick or not. A sighting inside several named places counts once, for the smallest of them, but a sighting inside a National Park Service park never counts for a private, campus or unchecked place. iNaturalist shows where people walk and log plants, not true abundance. Private campuses, condominiums, museums, estates and utility land (Pepco’s power-line land near Sligo Creek) are marked “no” (pick only with the owner’s permission); public university campuses, city parks and other places whose picking rules were not checked (county stormwater land, the U.S. Capitol Grounds, Greenbelt’s North Woods, federal facilities such as the National Zoo) are “unknown”. A place needs at least 2 sightings, so plants with very few sightings have no places. At-risk plants (butternut, nannyberry, American chestnut, ramps, riverbank goldenrod) get places like every other plant; each page says why the plant is at risk and gives any advice its sources give. For some places, mostly Rock Creek Park, the iNaturalist map shows more sightings than the count here, because a map link cannot leave out exactly the sightings credited to another place. iNaturalist is a website and phone app where people post photos of the plants and animals they see. A sighting is “research grade” when other users have confirmed what it is; “needs ID” sightings are not confirmed yet, and “cultivated” ones are marked as planted.

Ways to use it

  • mixed into pancake batter, flowers torn from the green stems (Nature’s Restaurant)
  • salad garnish (Edible Wild Food)
  • tea, fresh or dried (Edible Wild Food; Foraging Texas; NC State)
  • harvest only newly opened, bright flowers, and shake the stalk to drop insects (Nature’s Restaurant)

Keeping

Use them the day you pick them, or dry them for tea.

Use within
pick & use same day
Keeps fresh
Same day; overnight at most in a bag in the fridge (general guidance for edible flowers). University of Minnesota Extension: harvest edible flowers the day you will use them, no more than one day early; wash gently, dry, and refrigerate in plastic bags until use.
Keeping basis
general guidance for its type

Ways to keep it

  • Dry as researched: dry/dehydrate (tea or seasoning); canning: n/a (not shelf-canned)

    Eat The Weeds and Edible Wild Food: dried goldenrod flowers and leaves make tea. NCHFP (general guidance for herbs): dry in a dehydrator at 95–115°F for 1 to 4 hours, or hang small bundles indoors, until crisp; store airtight in a cool, dry, dark place.

Canning: what this means

Shelf-stable canning, three levels. Lab-tested: a lab-tested recipe from the National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP) or Oregon State covers this fruit and product, or a generic recipe for its kind (the line says so, for example chokeberry). Extension recipe: a published Extension recipe (University of Alaska Fairbanks, written for Alaska species; University of Maine’s dandelion jelly), or a process that is safe only with a pH meter; follow it exactly, never improvise. No tested recipe: refrigerate or freeze, don’t can. “Hot-bottled syrup” = maple and walnut syrup, which keep when bottled hot at full syrup density. The Canning line names the exact product each source covers, for example “whole berries” or “juice”; a product not named there (such as juice from a berry with only a whole-berry recipe) has no tested recipe.

Keeping basis: what this means

“Specific to this plant” or “general guidance for its type” (for example NCHFP guidance for leafy greens applied to a wild green).

Nutrition

Not researched: in October 2026, only the calendar’s plants of the month and chicory leaves were researched.

Native or not

Native around DC. Canada goldenrod was taken to Europe in 1645 and to China in 1930 and is now considered an invasive weed in Europe and East Asia (USDA NRCS).

Origin
native
Native range
Canada and most of the United States
Virginia invasive rank
not listed
Maryland invasive status
not listed
Native or not, and the invader stars: what this means

Origin is where the plant comes from: native, non-native, or mixed (the harvest covers both). The stars rate plants on invasive plant lists: ★★★ Virginia DCR “High” or Maryland prohibited invasive · ★★ Virginia “Medium” · ★ Virginia “Low” · ☆ listed only by the Maryland Invasive Species Council or the Mid-Atlantic Plant Invaders guide (advisory) · no stars: native or not listed.

Virginia DCR, Virginia Invasive Plant Species List (effective September 2024), verbatim: "Under the DCR Invasive Species Assessment Protocol, approved by the Virginia Invasive Species Working Group, January 2024, species were ranked as exhibiting high, medium or low levels of invasiveness based on their threat to natural communities and native species. Invasiveness rank is higher for species that: • Alter ecosystem processes, such as succession, hydrology or fire regime. • Are capable of invading undisturbed natural communities. • Cause substantial impacts on rare or vulnerable species or natural communities or high-quality examples of more common communities. • Are found widely distributed and generally abundant where present. • Disperse readily to new areas. • Are difficult to control." The list also states: "The list is for educational purposes only and has no regulatory authority."

Maryland Department of Agriculture, Maryland Prohibited Invasive Plant Law and Regulations page, verbatim: "Plants on the Maryland Prohibited Invasive Plant List may not be added to stock after the effective date and should not be sold after their phase-out period ends."

No official DC invasive plant list was found.

How the ratings were set

Find
Common in the right habitat Estimate 340 = 132 research-grade iNaturalist sightings within 25 km + 1,081 needs-ID sightings counted at 14% (132 of the 971 research-grade Solidago sightings here are Canada, tall or giant goldenrod) + 61 'cultivated' (planted) sightings (rule A); that is tier 2 by count (rule B). Includes tall goldenrod (97 research-grade sightings) and giant goldenrod (24), which the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center says look so similar to Canada goldenrod (11) that the three share several common names. Rule D does not apply: the Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora says one variety of Canada goldenrod in the strict sense is "Currently known from few collections" in parts of Virginia, but that plant makes up only 11 of the 132 research-grade sightings here, not the harvest as a whole, and the same atlas calls tall goldenrod "Common throughout". Final tier 2.
Effort
Grab & eat Shake out insects, strip the fresh flowers from the stems and scatter them on a salad; mixing them into pancake batter or steeping them for tea is a 2.
Find: what this means

1 Everywhere · 2 Common in the right habitat · 3 Patchy · 4 Elusive. This is about how much there is, not whether you may pick it. It is based on iNaturalist sightings within 25 km (about 15 miles) of downtown DC, counted on October 3, 2026. The four rules that each plant’s “Find” reason refers to: (A) the estimate is the confirmed sightings, plus the unconfirmed ones (scaled down where the plant has lookalikes in its genus), plus the sightings marked as planted; (B) the tier by estimate: 1,500 or more is tier 1, 250–1,499 tier 2, 50–249 tier 3, under 50 tier 4; (C) tier 1, Everywhere, also needs a source saying the plant is common in lawns, sidewalks, yards or gardens, vacant lots or towns, or at least one DC street tree of it per km of sidewalk, otherwise it is tier 2; (D) if a reliable source says the plant is rare in this region, or that wild plants rarely bear the harvest, only planted sightings count. iNaturalist is a website and phone app where people post photos of the plants and animals they see. A sighting is “research grade” when other users have confirmed what it is; “needs ID” sightings are not confirmed yet, and “cultivated” ones are marked as planted.

Effort: what this means

1 Grab & eat · 2 Quick kitchen prep (under about 30 minutes) · 3 Real work (hours, or cooking needed for safety) · 4 Project (days or equipment). Scored on the simplest worthwhile use; each plant’s page says why.

Sources

39 sources, each linked to the original.

  1. List of Rare, Threatened, and Endangered Plants of Maryland (March 2026) Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife and Heritage ServiceBacks up: picking rules
  2. Rock Creek Park Superintendent’s Compendium National Park ServiceBacks up: picking rules
  3. Solidago gigantea (Giant Goldenrod) Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (University of Texas at Austin)Backs up: description
  4. Solidago altissima (Tall Goldenrod) Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (University of Texas at Austin)Backs up: description, habitat, findability
  5. Plant Guide: Canada Goldenrod, Solidago canadensis (Pavek, 2011) USDA Natural Resources Conservation ServiceBacks up: description, habitat, safety, native or invasive status
  6. Solidago canadensis (Canada Goldenrod) Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (University of Texas at Austin)Backs up: description, safety
  7. Solidago altissima (Canadian Goldenrod, Tall Goldenrod) NC State Extension Gardener Plant ToolboxBacks up: description, season, habitat, native or invasive status
  8. Solidago canadensis (Canada Goldenrod) NC State Extension Gardener Plant ToolboxBacks up: description, season, safety, native or invasive status
  9. Solidago canadensis var. canadensis (Canada Goldenrod) Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora (Virginia Botanical Associates)Backs up: findability
  10. iNaturalist research-grade observations of Canada, tall and giant goldenrod (Solidago canadensis, S. altissima, S. gigantea) within 25 km of downtown DC iNaturalistBacks up: findability
  11. Solidago gigantea (Late Goldenrod) Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora (Virginia Botanical Associates)Backs up: habitat
  12. Checklist of the Vascular Plants of the Washington-Baltimore Area (Shetler & Orli) Smithsonian Institution, Department of BotanyBacks up: habitat
  13. Illinois Wildflowers: Canada Goldenrod (J. Hilty) Illinois WildflowersBacks up: habitat
  14. Solidago altissima var. altissima (Tall Goldenrod) Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora (Virginia Botanical Associates)Backs up: habitat, findability
  15. Edible flowers University of Minnesota ExtensionBacks up: keeping
  16. Herbs (drying) National Center for Home Food Preservation (University of Georgia)Backs up: keeping
  17. USDA PLANTS Database: Solidago canadensis (SOCA6), native status USDA NRCSBacks up: native or invasive status
  18. USDA PLANTS Database: Solidago altissima (SOAL6), native status USDA NRCSBacks up: native or invasive status
  19. USDA PLANTS Database: Solidago gigantea (SOGI), native status USDA NRCSBacks up: native or invasive status
  20. Virginia Invasive Plant Species List (effective date: September 2024) Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural HeritageBacks up: native or invasive status
  21. Maryland Prohibited Invasive Plant Law and Regulations (Maryland Prohibited Invasive Plant List, updated January 2026; additions effective July 15, 2026; 'Next Plants To Be Assessed' 2026-2027) Maryland Department of Agriculture, Plant Protection & Weed ManagementBacks up: native or invasive status
  22. Non-Native Invasive Terrestrial Plant Species in the State of Maryland (updates approved through the April 18, 2024 MISC meeting) Maryland Invasive Species CouncilBacks up: native or invasive status
  23. Plant Invaders of Mid-Atlantic Natural Areas, Field Guide (Swearingen & Fulton, 2022; successor to the NPS/USFWS 5th ed., 2017) Mid-Atlantic Invasive Plant Council / Passiflora Press (hosted by Bugwood/Mid-Atlantic Invaders Tool)Backs up: native or invasive status
  24. Invasive Plants in the District DC Department of Energy & EnvironmentBacks up: native or invasive status
  25. Addendum to Assessment report on Solidago virgaurea L., herba (EMA/HMPC/637909/2018, 2021) European Medicines Agency, Committee on Herbal Medicinal ProductsBacks up: safety
  26. Identification of clinically relevant cross-sensitization between Solidago virgaurea (goldenrod) and Hevea brasiliensis (natural rubber latex) (Bains et al., J Investig Allergol Clin Immunol 2010;20(4):331-9), PubMed abstract Journal of Investigational Allergology and Clinical Immunology (via PubMed, US National Library of Medicine)Backs up: safety
  27. Foraging Goldenrod Herbal AcademyBacks up: safety
  28. Tansy ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris), weed sheet (rev. 1/2026) Clallam County Noxious Weed Control Board (Washington)Backs up: safety
  29. Packera aurea (Golden Ragwort) NC State Extension Gardener Plant ToolboxBacks up: safety
  30. Senecio vulgaris (Common Groundsel) NC State Extension Gardener Plant ToolboxBacks up: safety
  31. Ambrosia artemisiifolia (Common Ragweed) NC State Extension Gardener Plant ToolboxBacks up: safety
  32. Community herbal monograph on Solidago virgaurea L., herba (EMEA/HMPC/285758/2007, 2008) European Medicines Agency, Committee on Herbal Medicinal ProductsBacks up: safety, safety details
  33. Research-grade observations of Canada, tall and giant goldenrod within 25 km of DC, by month (flowering) iNaturalistBacks up: season
  34. Observations (research grade and needs ID) of Canada, tall and giant goldenrod within 25 km of DC, by day (flowering) iNaturalistBacks up: season
  35. Goldenrod Greens & Flowers Nature’s Restaurant (wild food guide)Backs up: uses, description, season, safety
  36. Goldenrod Edible Wild FoodBacks up: uses, description, keeping
  37. Solidago (Goldenrod) NC State Extension Gardener Plant ToolboxBacks up: uses, safety
  38. Goldenrod Glorified (Green Deane) Eat The WeedsBacks up: uses, safety, keeping
  39. Goldenrod (Mark Vorderbruggen) Foraging TexasBacks up: uses, season, picking rules