"Goldenrods are attractive sources of nectar for bees, flies, wasps, and butterflies. Honey from goldenrods often is dark and strong due to admixtures of other nectars. However when there is a strong honey flow, a light (often water white), spicy-tasting monofloral honey is produced. While the bees are ripening the honey produced from goldenrods it has a rank odor and taste, but finished honey is much milder.
Goldenrod is a companion plant, playing host to some beneficial insects, and repelling some pests. They are used as a food source by the larvae of various Lepidoptera species (see list of Lepidoptera that feed on goldenrods). The invading larva induces the plant to form a bulbous tissue mass (called a gall) around it, upon which the larva then feeds. Various parasitoid wasps find these galls and lay eggs in the larvae, penetrating the bulb with their ovipositor. Woodpeckers have adapted to peck open the galls and eat the insect in the center.
The goldenrod is the state flower of the U.S. states of Kentucky (adopted March 16, 1926) and Nebraska (adopted April 4, 1895). It used to be the state flower of Alabama, being adopted as such on September 6, 1927, but was later rejected in favour of the camellia. Goldenrod was recently named the state wildflower for South Carolina.
The Sweet Goldenrod (Solidago odora) is also the state herb of Delaware as of June 24, 1996.
They are mostly short-day plants and bloom in late summer and early fall. Some species produce abundant nectar when moisture is plentiful, or when it is warm and sunny."
Taken from wikipedia's page at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G...
