Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/98

 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