Meadowsweet Filipendula ulmaria


Filipendula ulmaria
  • Common Names
  • Meadowsweet , Queen of the Meadow, Bridewort, Quaker Lady
  • Botanical Name
  • Filipendula ulmaria
  • Family
  • ROSACEAE

Medicinal Uses & Benefits of Meadowsweet

remedyHow to Use| Side Effects | Plant & Garden| Folklore

How to Use: Meadowsweet


Meadowsweet is a mild, but effective anti-inflammatory herb used to treat arthritis and other aches and pains. Meadowsweet leaves and flowers contain salicylates, compounds that are converted by the body to aspirin. Meadowsweet is especially helpful for those arthritis sufferers who have gastritis, (inflammation of the stomach lining) from years of taking NSAIDs. While it may seem contradictory at first, since aspirin and salicylates are know for causing stomach upset, but years of observation and historic use confirm that meadowsweet is effective in a wide range of digestive problems, including diarrhea in children3. This makes a strong case for the whole herb being much more than just the sum of its "active" ingredients.1

Preparation Methods & Dosage :Meadowsweet can be taken in teas, as an extract or in capsules.

see remedies

Meadowsweet Remedies


Meadowsweet Side Effects: Not for those with sensitivity to aspirin (salicylates). For the same reason, it should not be used by children under the age of sixteen with high fevers, because of the rare but very real risk of Reyes syndrome. May compound the effects of prescription blood thinners, do not take if you have any internal bleeding problems. 1,4

^ Top^

Plant Description


Fleecy white plumes of meadow-sweet, the "spires of closely clustered bloom" sung by Dora Read Goodale, are surely not frequently found near dusty "waysides scorched with barren heat," even in her Berkshires; their preference is for moister soil, often in the same habitat with a first cousin, the pink steeple-bush. But plants, like humans, are capricious creatures. If the meadow-sweet always elected to grow in damp ground whose rising mists would clog the pores of its leaves, doubtless they would be protected with a woolly absorbent, as its cousins are. Inasmuch as perfume serves as an attraction to the more highly specialized, aesthetic insects, not required by the spiraeas, our meadow-sweet has none, in spite of its misleading name. Small bees, flies, and beetles, among other visitors, come in great numbers, seeking, the accessible pollen, and, in this case, nectar also, secreted in a conspicuous orange-colored disk. Netje Blanchan. Wild Flowers worth Knowing (1917)

Regional Traditions :European *

Related Species S.salicifolia


References:
books citedWorks Cited
  1. Hoffmann, David (2010-12-15). Medical Herbalism: The Science and Practice of Herbal Medicine (p. 36). Healing Arts Press.
  2. Dawson, Adele. "Herbs: Partners in Life",(2000
  3. Wikipedia
  4. Mountain Rose Herbs