Meadowsweet

Synonym(s)

ulmaria spiraea; ulnar filipendula

Definition
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Meadowsweet, also known as Filipendula ulmaria or Spriaea, is a plant from the rose family (Rosaceae).

It is widespread in Great Britain, northern Siberia, eastern Mongolia to Asia Minor, in almost all of Europe with the exception of the far south and is mostly found in nutrient-rich wet meadows and stream banks, as well as in alder-ash forests.

The plant is a 50 to 150 cm tall perennial with long-stemmed, odd-pinnate leaves and small, creamy white, sweetly scented flowers. It flowers from June to August.

The dried flowers, stems and leaves (meadowsweet - Filipendulae ulmariae herba) are used phytotherapeutically, especially the flowers: Spiraeae ulmariae flos.

General information
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Meadowsweet is a perennial plant that grows to a height of between 50 and 150 cm, rarely 200 cm. The stems have a reddish tinge and only branch at the top.
The leaves are dark green in color and have pronounced veins and white down on the underside. Rubbing the leaves releases an odor of salicylaldehyde (the main active component in the phenolic glycosides of meadowsweet essential oil). The yellowish-white flowers exude an intense, honey- to almond-like odor.
The plant flowers in Germany in June and July, in Central Europe from June to August.
Each flower usually develops six to eight clustered nutlets, which together give the impression of a single fruit. The inconspicuous nutlets are up to 3 millimetres long and curved in a sickle shape. As the fruit ripens, the color changes from green to brown. They are then ripe in October.

Filipendula ulmaria is the parent plant of Spriaeae ulmariae flos or herba

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Complication(s)
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Caution in case of intolerance to acetylsalicylic acid!

Note(s)
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Ingredients: Methyl ester of salicylic acid. This was isolated from the plant for the first time in 1853 by Karl Jacob Löwig and called spiric acid, corresponding to its origin from Spiraea ulmaria. This spiric acid, i.e. salicylic acid, was used in gram doses to treat rheumatoid arthritis. The molecule was later chemically modified to increase the effect and improve tolerability. In 1897, the Bayer company succeeded in synthesizing acetylsalicylic acid, known as Aspirin®. A stands for acetyl and spir for spicylic acid, the former name for salicylic acid.