Meadowsweet

The meadowsweet, also called Filipendula ulmaria or Spriaea, is a plant of the rose family (Rosaceae). It is widespread in almost all of Europe and is mostly found on nutrient-rich wet meadows and stream banks as well as in alder-ash forests.

The dried flowers, stems and leaves are used phytotherapeutically: Spiraeae ulmariae flos

The meadowsweet is a perennial plant that grows to heights between 50 and 150 cm, rarely 200 cm. The stems are reddishly overgrown and only branch out in the upper part.
The leaves are dark green and have strong veins and white down on the underside. When the leaves are crushed, an odour of salicylaldehyde is released (main active component in the phenolic glycosides of essential meadowsweet oil).

The plant's flowering time in Germany is in June and July, in Central Europe from June to August.
The yellowish-white flowers exude an intense, honey- to almond-like smell.
Each flower usually develops six to eight nuts standing together, which together give the impression of a single fruit. The inconspicuous little nuts are crescent-shaped with a length of up to 3 millimetres. As the fruit ripens, the colour changes from green to brown. They are then ripe in October.

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

1. HMPC (2011) Community herbal monograph on Filipendula ulmaria (L.) Maxim, herba.
2. https://arzneipflanzenlexikon.info/maedesuess.php