Plant Story--Meadowsweet, Queen-of-the-Meadow, Filipendula ulmaria

Meadowsweet, Filipendula ulmaria, in the rose family, Rosaceae, is a lovely and conspicuous European wildflower, now naturalized in the eastern United States (known there as "queen-of-the-meadow"). 

meadowsweet, Filipendula ulmaria

This is a plant with a long and important history in Europe. The aboveground plant--leaves, stems, flowers-- contain salicylate, the compound from which aspirin was derived in the 1800s. Willow bark (genus Salix) also has salicylate, but the German chemists who first purified salicylate worked with meadowsweet. They named it aspirin based on Spirea, meadowsweet's Latin name at the time. Long before that, Europeans had been treating fevers, aches, and pains with formulas made from meadowsweet. It contains astringent tannins as well. It passed rigorous testing in the 20th century  proving its efficacy in treating coughs, bronchitis, and colds, and as a diuretic. 

meadowsweet, Filipendula ulmaria

But that's its serious side. Its abundant pretty flowers and sweet smell--faintly of almonds--made it the go-to plant for weddings many times and places across Europe. Brought into a room, it refreshed the air. In the days when floors were improved by strewing herbs across them, meadowsweet was a favorite. Queen Elizabeth I of England reportedly preferred it to all other strewing herbs in her chambers: it is sweet-smelling, but not dominating, and soft to bare feet.

meadowsweet on the roadside in Ireland

The leaves have a pleasant taste, though not almondy like the flowers. As a result, meadowsweet was frequently added to beers, wines, meads, and liqueurs, from at least the Roman Era. In the Middle Ages it was called meadwort (plant used in mead) or medwort. Likewise, the modern name is not based on meadows but on mead, having gone from meadsweet to meadowsweet over time. It is still used in many commercial meads, liqueurs, and teas. "Meadowsweat has a high content of salicic acid, which is the painkiller used in aspirin. This may be the reason why, according to the ancient traditions, drinking mead did not cource hangovers." (Product description, Snoremark Bronze Mead link)

The genus name Filipendula is from filum, a thread, and pendulus, hanging, for root tubers linked by tiny rootlets.  The species epithet ulmaria means "elm-like", for the leaves. The old genus name, Spiraea, comes from the Greek speira, meaning wreath, referring to the showy white flowers common in the group. Plants in the genus Spiraea are still often called meadowsweets, even though The meadowsweet, called Spiraea ulmaria, was moved to the genus Filipendula more than a century ago. Modern DNA studies find Filipendula species are not very closely related to the plants in Spiraea, though all remain in the rose family.

meadowsweet Filipendula ulmaria

As a common, useful, and conspicuous plant, meadowsweet has much European folklore. Some is surprisingly negative. The Welsh associated it with death, warning not to fall asleep in a room or field with lots of meadowsweet, lest you do not wake up. Other tales, from England, associate bringing it into the house with very bad luck. Balanced against that is that it was widely used in love spells. And meadowsweet had the unusual property that it would help you solve a robbery. If something was stolen from you, you should gather meadowsweet on Midsummer's Day and place a sprig gently on a bowl of water. If the sprig sank, then the thief was a man but if it floated, then you are looking for a woman. 

meadowsweet Filipendula ulmaria

In Greenaway's Victorian The Language of Flowers, giving a person meadowsweet conveyed the message "uselessness." But meadowsweet was a preferred flower for weddings. Might not the recipient interpret a gift of meadowsweet as "let's get married!"? Beware of contradictory folklore!

Meadowsweet is a plant of wet areas, such as moist meadows and stream banks. In the United States it is considered a noxious weed in Wisconsin, and has naturalized in New England, south to Pennsylvania, west to Kentucky.  Thus, although a lovely plant, grow it cautiously, and you are in a state where it is naturalized (link), forage for it rather create than another population. 

Comments and corrections welcome

Further Reading:

Grace, J. 2024. Plant of the Week. Filipendula ulmaria (Meadowsweet). The Botanical Society of Scotland.  link 

References

Allen, D.E. and G. Hatfield. 2004. Medicinal Plants in the Folk Tradition. Timber Press, Portland Oregon.

Cunningham, S. 2003. Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs. 2nd ed. Llewellyn Publlications, St. Paul, MN. 

Greenaway, K. Kate Greenaway's Language of Flowers. 1979.originally 1884. Avenel Books. New York.

Grieve, M. 1971. A Modern Herbal. Originally 1932. Dover Publications, Inc. New York. 

Gruenwald, J., T. Brendler and C. Jaenicke. 2007. PDR (Physician's Desk Reference) for Herbal Medicine. 4th edition. Thomson Publications, Montvale, New York.

Simonetti, G. 1990. Simon and Schuster's Guide to Herbs and Spices. Simon and Schuster, New York

Vickery, R. 1997. Oxford Dictionary of Plant-Lore.  Oxford University Press. Oxford, England.

Kathy Keeler

A Wandering Botanist

More at awanderingbotanist.com

Join me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AWanderingBotanist