GOLDENROD
GOLDENROD (tolulago, Linn.), the name of
numerous plants, whose showy heads of flow-
ers, waving like golden wands, make bright
and gay the sides of roads, hills, and gravelly
banks in the autumn. A supposed emcacy m
the plants suggested to the early botanists the
name tolidago, from Lat. solidare, to make firm.
Although the general appearance of the ra-
cemed or else corymbed heads, which bear the
florets, is diverse, yet the flowers themselves
ditlV-r only from the asters in the smaller heads
of (except in one species) yellow flowers. The
genus is mostly North American, there being
about 80 species, all of which but three or four
belong to this country. The most common
European species is 8. mrgaurea, with a low,
terete, pubescent stem, which branches above ;
the lower leaves are elliptical, somewhat hairy,
acutely serrate, the flower heads in thyrsoid
racemes. It grows in thickets and woods,
and formerly was much used in medicine. Its
Goldenrod (Solidago Canadcnsis).
principle is astringent and tonic; the leaves
and flowers, however, were thought aperient.
It occurs in the northern regions of America,
bat under very dissimilar forms. Of these, a
dwarf kind, only a few inches high, with obo-
vate or lanceolate, mostly entire leaves, and a
few large flowers, is the variety which Dr.
Bigelow calls almna ; it occurs in the alpine
regions >,f N, Hampshire, of Maine, and of
New York, and on the shore of Lake Superior.
A second
tinet variety is hum-ilk, on the
rocky banks of western Vermont, Lakes IIu-
1 Superior, and northward ; and a sub-
variety with larger and broader leaves, the
flower heads in nnipU>, compound racemes, the
flower rays occasionally white instead of yel-
t<> I... im-t with on gravelly banks of
-t r , -ain-j at the base of th.- Yhiu- mountains in
New Hampshire, A -imilar but. distinct spe-
cies is /,- (Meyer), which occurs on
the wooded sides of mountains from Maine to
GOLDFINCH
New York and northward. Perhaps the most
interesting species is the sweet goldenrod (S.
odora, Ait.), with a slender stem 2 to 3 ft. high,
often reclined; the leaves linear-lanceolate,
entire, shining, covered with pellucid dots,
which secrete a delicious anisate oil ; the flow-
er heads in racemes spreading in a one-sided
panicle, the flower rays rather large and con-
spicuous. It may be occasionally found in rich
shady woods. An essence distilled from the
leaves has been used to relieve spasmodic pains.
One of the earliest indications of the approach
of autumn is in the flowers of S. licolor, or
white goldenrod, the only species which has
white flowers. Next comes into yellow bloom
the tall Canadian goldenrod (S. Canadensis),
and following this, the gigantic goldenrod (IS
giganted), and the tall goldenrod (S. altissima),
names singularly misapplied, as the altitude of
both is not unusual. Afterward may be seen
S. arguta and other species, until the lingering
florets upon the downy goldenrod (S. nemora-
lis) indicate the near approach of the cold.
The goldenrods generally affect dry and ster-
ile soils, though some are found in bogs and
moist places, and range from alpine heights to
the very margin of the sea, where may be seen
S. sempervirens, with its large, thick, shining
green leaves, and bold, large-rayed, and con-
spicuous yellow flowers, and the narrow-leaved
(S. tenuifolia, Pursh), having very small, crowd-
ed heads of inconspicuous flowers. Several
species are peculiar to the western states, as S.
Ohioensis (Riddel) and 8. Riddelii (Frank.), in
moist meadows and grassy prairies ; and others,
as S. Drummondii (Torr. and Gray), upon rocks,
in common with more ordinary ones, indicating
a wide distribution of the genus.
GOLDEN SEAL. See PUOOOON.
GOLDFINCH (fringilla carduelis, Linn.), one
of the handsomest of the European fringillidce,
valued as a cage bird both for its beauty, its
song, and its docility. It is about 5 in. long,
with an extent of wings of 9 in. ; the forehead
and throat are crimson ; the loral space, top
of the head, and a semicircular band on the
upper neck black ; the hind neck and back are
umber brown, passing into ochre yellow on
the rump ; sides of breast and flanks paler, and
white below ; smaller wing coverts black, sec-
ondary rich yellow ; most of the quills black
with white tips, except the basal half of the
outer webs, which are yellow ; tail black,
white tipped. The female is smaller, with less
crimson, pure black, and bright colors in the
plumage. Like all caged birds, the goldfinch
sometimes shows considerable differences in
color. It will pair and produce progeny with
the green linnet. Its food consists of the
seeds of the thistles, grasses, and herbaceous
plants, which it seeks in small flocks. Its
song, which is sweet and varied, usually be-
gins in Great Britain about the end of March
and continues until July ; its flight is quick and
buoyant, like that of the linnet. The nest is
elaborately made of the usual materials, and