October is the golden month, when colors begin creeping down from the mountains and highlands to paint our world in gold. It's only an impression, but have you noticed that goldenrods appear to be putting on a better show this year than usual?

Roadsides and open pastures take on an increasing glow as the goldenrod's vivid yellow plumes come to full brilliance beneath autumn's sunlight. Folklore suggests that if it grows around your home, it's a sure sign of good fortune.

Bees make heavy use of asters and goldenrod; the resultant honey is especially valuable. More important is the food that this autumn gold provides for Lepidoptera (butterflies), which deposit their eggs to feed on the plant's stems. Next come the wasps, whose larvae depend upon feeding on the butterfly larvae. To complete the cycle, woodpeckers have learned how to chisel open the insect bole to fatten upon the wasp larvae.

Our forefathers found an infusion made of the leaf and flower of the goldenrod was useful in treating inflammatory disorders and kidney problems. But there is another, quite remarkable but lesser known commercial aspect of the plant.

Nearly a century ago, Thomas Edison discovered how to make a long-lasting rubber from the plant. Henry Ford even used the resulting tires for many of his early automobiles. In those days, the goldenrod met the road.

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