Meadowsweet
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Rosales Family: Rosaceae Subfamily: Rosoideae Genus: Filipendula Species: F. ulmaria
Binomial name
Filipendula ulmaria (L.) Maxim.

Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) is a perennial herb in the family Rosaceae, which grows in damp meadows. It is native throughout most of Europe and western Asia though it has been successfully introduced and naturalized in North America. Image File history File links Filipendula-ulmaria. ... For other uses, see Scientific classification (disambiguation). ... Divisions Green algae Chlorophyta Charophyta Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular plants (bryophytes) Marchantiophyta - liverworts Anthocerotophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) †Rhyniophyta - rhyniophytes †Zosterophyllophyta - zosterophylls Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses †Trimerophytophyta - trimerophytes Pteridophyta - ferns and horsetails Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering plants... It has been suggested that Angiospermae, and Anthophyta be merged into this article or section. ... Magnoliopsida is the botanical name for a class: this name is formed by replacing the termination -aceae in the name Magnoliaceae by the termination -opsida (Art 16 of the ICBN). ... Families Barbeyaceae Cannabaceae (hemp family) Dirachmaceae Elaeagnaceae Moraceae (mulberry family) Rosaceae (rose family) Rhamnaceae (buckthorn family) Ulmaceae (elm family) Urticaceae (nettle family) For the Philippine municipality, see Rosales, Pangasinan. ... Subfamilies Rosoideae Spiraeoideae Maloideae Amygdaloideae or Prunoideae The Rosaceae or rose family is a large family of plants, with about 3,000-4,000 species in 100-120 genera. ... Genera Aphanes Dryas - mountain avens Filipendula Fragaria - strawberry Geum - avens Kerria Potentilla - cinquefoil Rhodotypos Rosa - rose Rubus - bramble fruit Waldsteinia The rose subfamily Rosoideae includes many shrubs and perennial herbs. ... Binomial name Filipendula ulmaria (L.) Maxim. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal method of naming species. ... Carolus Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as  , (May 23, 1707 – January 10, 1778), was a Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist[1] who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of nomenclature. ... Carl Johann Maximowicz (1827 Tula - 1891 St Petersburg) was a Russian botanist. ... Red Valerian, a perennial plant. ... Herbs: basil Herbs (IPA: hÉ™(ɹ)b, or əɹb; see pronunciation differences) are plants grown for any purpose other than food, wood or beauty. ... Subfamilies Rosoideae Spiraeoideae Maloideae Amygdaloideae or Prunoideae The Rosaceae or rose family is a large family of plants, with about 3,000-4,000 species in 100-120 genera. ... A meadow is a habitat of rolling or flat terrain where grasses predominate. ... World map exhibiting the location of Europe. ... World map showing the location of Asia. ...

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 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. The leaves of a Beech tree A leaf with laminar structure and pinnate venation In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant organ specialized for photosynthesis. ...

Meadowsweet has delicate, graceful, creamy-white flowers clustered close together in handsome irregularly-branched cymes, having a very strong, sweet smell. They flower from June to early September. A Phalaenopsis flower A flower, (<Old French flo(u)r<Latin florem<flos), also known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Magnoliophyta, also called angiosperms). ... Cyme can refer to: Cyme, a botanical term a for a class of flower clusters (see inflorescence) characterized by the terminal flower in the cluster blooming first. ...

Etymology

The name ulmaria means "elmlike", an odd epithet as it does not resemble the elm (Ulmus) in any way. However, the generic name, Filipendula, comes from filum, meaning "thread" and pendulus, meaning "hanging." This is possibly said to discribe the root tubers that hang characteristically on the genus, on fiberous roots. Species See text. ...

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 stwed fruit and jams, giving them a subtle almond flavor. Meadowsweet was regarded as sacred by the Druids. 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 victems. Dried, the flowers make a lovely potpourris. A glass of red wine This article is about the alcoholic beverage. ... A selection of bottled beers A selection of cask beers Beer is the worlds oldest[1] and most popular[2] alcoholic beverage, selling more than 133 billion litres (35 billion gallons) per year. ... Druidry or Druidism was the religion of the ancient druids, the priestly class in ancient Celtic and Gallic societies through much of Western Europe north of the Alps and in the British Isles. ...

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 Hoffman's employer Bayer AG after the old botannical name for meadowsweet, Spirea ulmaria. This gave rise to the hugely important class of drugs known as NonSteroidal AntiInflammatory Drugs, or NSAIDs. Felix Hoffman (January 21, 1868 – February 8, 1946) was a German chemist. ... Salicylic acid is a colorless, crystalline organic carboxylic acid. ... Salicylic acid is the chemical compound with the formula C6H4(OH)CO2H, where the OH group is adjacent to the carboxylic acid group. ... A very old bottle of Aspirin Aspirin or acetylsalicylic acid is a drug in the family of salicylates, often used as an analgesic (against minor pains and aches), antipyretic (against fever), and anti-inflammatory. ... Aspirin or acetylsalicylic acid (acetosal) is a drug in the family of salicylates, often used as an analgesic (against minor pains and aches), antipyretic (against fever), and anti-inflammatory. ... Felix Hoffman (January 21, 1868 – February 8, 1946) was a German chemist. ... Bayer AG (German pronunciation BYE-er, in US usually pronounced BAY-er) (NYSE: BAY, TYO: 4863 ) is a German chemical and pharmaceutical company founded in 1863. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...

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

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 ^[1]. In Welsh Mythology, Gwydion and Math created a woman out of oak blossom, broom, and meadowsweet and named her Blodeuwedd ("flower face"). It is known by many other names, and in Chacer's The Knight's Tale it is known as Meadwort and was one of the ingredients in a drink caled "save." It was also known as Bridewort, because it was strewn in churches for festivals and weddings , ofthen 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 [[1]]Queen Elizabeth I]]. She desired it above all other herbs in her chambers. The Bronze Age is a period in a civilizations development when the most advanced metalworking has developed the techniques of smelting copper from natural outcroppings and alloys it to cast bronze. ... For the magazine see Cairn Magazine. ... Carmarthenshire (Welsh: ) is a county in Wales. ... Ashgrove can refer to: Ashgrove, Moray, Scotland Ashgrove, Bath and North East Somerset, England Ashgrove, Queensland, Australia This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. ... Fife (Fìobh in Gaelic) is a council area of Scotland, situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with landward boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire. ... North Mains is a henge near Strathallan in Scotland. ... Strathallan School is an independent boarding and day school in Scotland for boys and girls aged 10-18. ... Mead Mead is a fermented alcoholic beverage made of honey, water, and yeast. ... In Welsh mythology, Gwydion is a magician appearing prominently in the Fourth branch of the Mabinogi and the ancient poem Cad Goddeu. ... Incorrect shortening of Mathematics. ... Species See List of Quercus species The term oak can be used as part of the common name of any of several hundred species of trees and shrubs in the genus Quercus, and some related genera, notably Cyclobalanopsis and Lithocarpus. ... A broom is a cleaning tool consisting of stiff fibres attached to, and roughly parallel to, a cylindrical handle, the broomstick. ... In Welsh mythology, Blodeuwedd is the later name of Blodeuedd, a woman made from flowers by Math and Gwydion. ...

References

1. ^ Pitts, M. (2006). Meadowsweet flowers in prehistoric graves. British Archaeology 88 (May/June): 6

External links

• Meadowsweet

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Filipendula ulmaria

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