Meadowsweet
Parts Usually Used
The entire plant
Description of Plant(s) and Culture
Meadowsweet is a perennial plant; a creeping rootstock sends up a reddish, angular stem, 2-3 feet tall, branched near the top and bearing alternate, pinnate leaves, the leaflets entire or irregularly cleft, serrate, and downy white beneath. The terminal leaflet is 3-5 lobed and doubly serrate. Small yellowish-white or reddish flowers grow in panicled cymes from June to August. The sweetness comes from its tiny flowers that crown the top of each stem in dense clusters.
Another variety: Dropwort or goatsbeard (F. hexapetala) is a related European and Asian plant with a tuberous root and fernlike leaves. Medicinally it is equivalent to meadowsweet. Also, F. rubra, used much like meadowsweet. Also called meadowsweet: (Spiraea tomentosa); (Eupatorium purpureum) also called Gravel Root and Joe-Pye Weed; and (Spiraea ulmaria).
Where Found
Very common in European damp meadows, on banks of streams and rivers; it can also be found in the eastern United States and Canada, as far west as Ohio.
Medicinal Properties
Astringent, diaphoretic, diuretic, antirheumatic, analgesic, antispasmodic
Biochemical Information
Salicylic aldehyde and spireine both in the form of a glycoside; methyl salicylate, gaultherine and spiraeoside, a flavonoid glycoside, sugar and tannin
Legends, Myths and Stories
Queen Elizabeth I was so fond of this herb that the floors of her apartments were always strewn with it. Filipendula ulmaria (Spiraea ulmaria) probably contains chemical forerunners of aspirin. Salicin, the popular analgesic derived from poplars and willows, probably decomposes in the digestive tract to salicylic acid, a compound first isolated from meadowsweet flower buds in 1839.
Some 60 years later, the pharmaceutical company Bayer produced acetylsalicylate, a similar substance, artificially. They called this new “wonder drug” aspirin, Spiraea ulmaria, the old botanical name for this herb. The semisynthetic acetyl-salicylic acid (aspirin) is said to have fewer side effects than the natural compound from which it is derived. Still, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs including aspirin, account for 10,000-20,000 deaths per year.
Probably all medicines, natural and synthetic, have side effects. The pleasing drink formula is as follows: Equal quantities of meadowsweet, dandelion and agrimony boiled together for 20 minutes in double the quantity of water. Add 2 lb. of sugar to each gallon of strained liquid together with 1/2 oz. of yeast and the juice of a lemon. Leave the mixture to ferment and bottle later.
Uses
Historical herbalists noted that meadowsweet contained salicylic acid and traditionally employed it for colds, influenza, fevers, and respiratory complaints. Practitioners also administered it for gout, rheumatism, arthritis, dropsy, and fluid retention, as well as for bladder and kidney ailments. In folk medicine, the plant was taken for digestive issues, including diarrhea, enteritis, gastritis, indigestion, heartburn, and general stomach upset, with herbalists believing it soothed the gastric lining.
It was additionally recorded as a remedy for high blood pressure and blood disorders. Externally, practitioners applied decoctions of the herb as a wash for wounds or sore eyes, while also preparing it as a general beverage.
Warning
Long use of aspirin can lead to gastric ulceration, possibly bleeding, but meadowsweet does not show these side effects, and is actually a gentle digestive remedy for acidity and some types of diarrhea. Avoid this herb if sensitivity to salicylates (aspirin) is present.
Bibliography
American Folk Medicine , by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, 1973 The Complete Medicinal Herbal , by Penelope Ody, Dorling Kindersley, Inc, 232 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, First American Edition, copyright 1993 Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants , by Steven Foster and James A. , Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10000 Indian Herbalogy of North America , by Alma R.
, Horticultural Hall, 300 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, 1973 The Herbalist Almanac , by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, copyright 1988, fifth printing, 1994 The Herb Book , by John Lust, Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. copyright 1974. The Magic of Herbs , by David Conway, published by Jonathan Cape, Thirty Bedford Square, London, England.
, Lotus Press, PO Box 325, Twin Lakes. , 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023