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<div class="notice" style="font-style:italic">This article is about the Eurasian plant, introduced in some parts of America. For the American plant known as meadowsweet, see [[Spiraea alba]].</div>
{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = Meadowsweet
| image = Filipendula-ulmaria.JPG
| image_width = 240px
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Rosales]]
| familia = [[Rosaceae]]
| subfamilia = [[Rosoideae]]
| genus = ''[[Filipendula]]''
| species = '''''F. ulmaria'''''
| binomial = ''Filipendula ulmaria''
| binomial_authority = ([[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]) [[Carl Maximowicz|Maxim.]]
}}

'''Meadowsweet''' (''Filipendula ulmaria'') is a [[Perennial plant|perennial]] [[herb]] in the family [[Rosaceae]], which grows in damp [[meadow]]s. It is native throughout most of [[Europe]] and western [[Asia]] though it has been successfully introduced and naturalized in North America.

Meadowsweet has also been referred to as '''Queen of the Meadow''', '''Pride of the Meadow''', '''Meadow-Wort''' and '''Bridewort'''.

==Description==

The stems are 1–2 m tall, erect and furrowed, reddish to sometimes purple. The [[leaf|leaves]] are dark green on the upper side and whitish and downy underneath, much divided, interruptedly pinnate, having a few large serrate leaflets and small intermediate ones. Terminal leaflets are large, 4–8 cm long and three to five-lobed.

Meadowsweet has delicate, graceful, creamy-white [[flower]]s clustered close together in handsome irregularly-branched [[cyme]]s, having a very strong, sweet smell. They flower from June to early September. 

==Etymology==

The name '''ulmaria''' means "elmlike", an odd epithet as it does not resemble the [[elm]] (''Ulmus'') in any way.  However, like slippery elm bark, the plant contains salicylic acid, which has long been used as a painkiller, and this may be the source of the name. However, the generic name, ''Filipendula'', comes from ''filum'', meaning "thread" and ''pendulus'', meaning "hanging." This is possibly said to describe the root tubers that hang characteristically on the genus, on fibrous roots. 

==Uses==
The whole herb possesses a pleasant taste and flavour, the green parts having a similar aromatic character to the flowers, leading to the use of the plant to strew on floors to give the rooms a pleasant aroma, and its use to flavour [[wine]], [[beer]] and many vinegars. The flowers can be added to stewed fruit and jams, giving them a subtle almond flavor. It has many medicinal properties. The whole plant is a traditional remedy for an acidic stomach and the fresh root is often used in homeopathic preparations. It is effective on its own the treatment of diarrhoea. The flowers, when made into a tea, are a comfort to flu sufferers. Dried, the flowers make lovely pot pourri.

Active ingredients: compounds of salicylic acid, flavone-glycosides, essential oils and [[tannins]].

In 1897 [[Felix Hoffmann]] created a synthetically altered version of [[salicin]], derived from the species, which caused less digestive upset than pure [[salicylic acid]]. The new drug, formally [[Acetylsalicylic acid]], was named [[aspirin]] by [[Felix Hoffmann|Hoffman]]'s employer [[Bayer|Bayer AG]] after the old botannical name for meadowsweet, ''Spirea ulmaria''.  This gave rise to the hugely important class of drugs known as [[NSAIDs|NonSteroidal AntiInflammatory Drugs]], or [[NSAIDs]].

This plant contains the chemicals used to make Aspirin, a small section of root, when peeled and crushed smells like Germaline, and when chewed is a good natural remedy for relieving headaches.

A natural black dye can be obtained from the roots by using a copper [[mordant]].

Magical Uses: used in divination, and in spells and charms for peace, happiness, love.  It was a sacred herb of the [[Druids]]. Fresh meadowsweet should be arranged on the the altar when mixing love charms or performing love spells. Strew around the house for love and peace. At [[Lammas]] garlands of meadowsweet are worn to join with the essence of the Goddess. <ref name="Currie"> Currie, Penni, ''Magical Herbs, Roots and Resins'', unpublished pp213 </ref>

==History==
White-flowered meadowsweet has been found with the cremated remains of three people and at least one animal in a [[Bronze Age]] [[cairn]] at [[Fan Foel]], [[Carmarthenshire]]. Similar finds have also been found inside a Beaker from [[Ashgrove]], [[Fife]] and a vessel from [[North Mains]], [[Strathallan]]. These could possibly indicate honey-based [[mead]] or flavoured ale, or alternatively might suggest the plant being placed on the grave as a scented flower <ref>Pitts, M. (2006). Meadowsweet flowers in prehistoric graves. ''British Archaeology'' '''88''' (May/June): 6</ref>.

In Welsh Mythology, [[Gwydion]] and [[Math_fab_Mathonwy|Math]] created a woman out of [[oak]] blossom, [[broom (shrub)|broom]], and meadowsweet and named her [[Blodeuwedd]] ("flower face"). 

It is known by many other names, and in [[Chaucer]]'s ''The Knight's Tale'' it is known as Meadwort and was one of the ingredients in a drink called "save." It was also known as Bridewort, because it was strewn in churches for festivals and weddings, and often made into bridal garlands. In Europe, it took its name "queen of the meadow" for the way it can dominate a low-lying, damp meadow. In the 16th century, when it was customary to strew floors with rushes and herbs (both to give warmth underfoot and to overcome smells and infections), it was a favorite of [[Queen Elizabeth the First|Queen Elizabeth I]]. She desired it above all other herbs in her chambers.

==Notes==
<div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:2; column-count:2;"><references/></div>

==References==
* {{cite book | author=[[Neltje Blanchan|Blanchan, Neltje]] | title=[[Wild Flowers: An Aid to Knowledge of our Wild Flowers and their Insect Visitors]] | year=[[2002]] | publisher=[[Project Gutenberg|Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation]]}}

==External links==
* [http://www.purplesage.org.uk/profiles/meadowsweet.htm Meadowsweet]

{{commons|Filipendula ulmaria}}

[[Category:Rosaceae]]
[[Category:Herbs]]
[[Category:Flora of Europe]]
[[Category:Flora of Estonia]]
[[Category:Flora of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Medicinal plants]]
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