Golden rod (goldenrod) – solidago virgaaurea l.
Popular names: yellow flower, golden branch, rod.
Botanical characteristic. Compositae family. Perennial herbaceous plant, with a horizontal or oblique rhizome. The stem is erect, branched at the top, with alternate oblong-elliptical leaves, up to 1 m high. The flowers are small, golden yellow, collected in relatively small baskets. Blooms in late summer and all autumn.
Spreading. It occurs in coniferous and deciduous forests, in forest clearings and meadows, in meadow steppes throughout Siberia, the Urals, in the European part of the USSR, in the Crimea and the Caucasus.
Medicinal raw materials. The aerial parts of the plant (grass) are collected and dried in the usual way.
Chemical composition. Saponins, tannins, flavonoids, alkaloids, essential oil, nicotinic acid were found in the plant.
Pharmacological properties and Application. In folk veterinary medicine, grass and flowers of the plant are recommended as an astringent for diarrhea: a decoction of flowers – for chronic kidney diseases (inflammatory processes, kidney stones and sand), inflammation of the bladder, cholelithiasis, enterocolitis, as a diuretic in violation of uric acid metabolism . Approximate doses: for large animals inside 20-30 g. Fresh leaves are applied to wounds.
The plant has a fodder value (it is satisfactorily eaten by cattle fresh and in hay), it is considered a good late summer honey plant, it blooms for a long time and produces a lot of pollen and nectar.