Meadowsweet
Filipendula ulmaria
Print fact sheet (PDF)
The plant that gave aspirin both its chemistry and, indirectly, its name.
A tall perennial of damp ground with dark green pinnate leaves, whitish and downy beneath, and dense frothy heads of tiny creamy-white flowers with a heavy, sweet, almond-and-honey scent. Meadowsweet is abundant along ditches, wet meadows, riverbanks and marshy ground throughout the Dumfries area, and is one of the defining scents of a damp summer evening.
Behaviour
The plant contains salicylates, and it was from meadowsweet — then classified as Spiraea — that salicylic acid was first isolated; when Bayer produced the acetylated form, they named it aspirin after the old genus. Meadowsweet was one of the most widely used strewing herbs in medieval halls, valued for the scent released when it was walked on.
When to see it
Quick facts
- Family
- Roses (Rosaceae)
- Height
- 60–120 cm
- Status
- Native; abundant on damp ground
CC0, via Wikimedia Commons