Meadowsweet
Meadwort, queen of the meadow; Spiraea ulmaria
- Known today as
- Filipendula ulmaria, of the rose family, of damp meadows and ditches, with frothy cream flowers smelling of almond.
- Kind
- Plant, in 1 older authority
- Constituents
- salicylaldehyde, methyl salicylate, spiraeoside
- Earliest authority here
- Gerard
- In other databases
- Plants of the World Online search · GBIF search · Wikidata search
Meadowsweet: what was it used for?
Cooling and astringent, for fluxes and fevers; strewn on floors for its scent, and used to flavour mead, whence one of its names.
Meadowsweet: how is it taken as a tea?
An ounce of the dried herb to a pint of water, in wineglassful doses; an infusion of the fresh tops produces perspiration.
All the herbal teas of the database. Historical directions, not medical advice.
Meadowsweet: what does modern science say?
Its flowers contain salicylates. Salicylic acid was obtained from them in 1839, and when Bayer named acetylsalicylic acid in 1899 it called it aspirin, from Spiraea, the plant’s old name.
Pharmacognosy & Toxicology
- Constituents
- salicylaldehyde ChEMBLin the flowers
- methyl salicylate ChEMBL
- spiraeoside ChEMBL
- Mechanism
- The salicylates inhibit the prostaglandin synthases, weakly; the plant holds far less than a tablet of aspirin.
- Toxic dose
- The salicylate risks in those allergic or on anticoagulants.
- Standing
- Approved in Europe as a traditional remedy for colds and minor aches.
- European Medicines Agency (2011). Assessment report on Filipendula ulmaria. Book, not indexed
Constituent names open the compound’s record at PubChem, and “ChEMBL” beside a name opens its record at ChEMBL, the European Bioinformatics Institute’s database of bioactive molecules. Where a mechanism line was checked against ChEMBL (ChEMBL 37, read 1 October 2026), the check is shown with the measured value and its source paper, or says plainly that nothing has been measured. Doses are as the references give them, for description only; this is not medical advice. Each source carries the result of its check against Crossref, PubMed, or the authority’s page: see Verification.
Meadowsweet: what lore surrounds it?
A favourite strewing herb, said to have been Queen Elizabeth I’s choice for her chambers.
Meadowsweet: what did the older authorities say?
- Gerard
- Writes that its smell “makes the heart merrie and joyful and delighteth the senses.”
Sources
- Gerard, J. (1597). The Herball. Verified against its record · doi:10.5962/bhl.title.99400
- Grieve, M. (1931). A Modern Herbal, “Meadowsweet.” Book, not indexed
Verification
- Checked
- October 1, 2026
- Passes
- Every sentence read against its sources, in the pass over the remaining 343 entries
- The Standing line checked against the authority it names (EMA, WHO, FDA, CITES, Commission E)
- Every dated or regulatory claim checked by category across the database
- Sources
- 3 cited: 1 verified against its record, 2 book, not indexed.
- Corrections
- None were needed.
What was checked, how, and what was found is set out on the Verification page. A checked source is one whose record was found; it does not make the entry medical advice.
Cite This Entry
Version 1 · first published September 30, 2026
- Chicago
“Meadowsweet.” In Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1. The Thinking Press, 2026–. Last modified September 30, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/meadowsweet.
- MLA
“Meadowsweet.” Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema, version 1, The Thinking Press, 30 Sept. 2026, thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/meadowsweet. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.
- APA
Meadowsweet. (2026, September 30). In B. C. P. Statema (Ed.), Materia medica (Version 1). The Thinking Press. Retrieved October 8, 2026, from https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/meadowsweet
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See Also
Drawing on the same sources: Gerard, Grieve
Purslane · Marigold · Rosemary · Mint, oil of · Mayapple · Motherwort · the bibliography →
Nearby in the alphabet
Melon root (Cucumis melo) · Meadow saffron (Colchicum autumnale) · Milkweed · Mastic · The Miraculous Medal · Masterwort and angelica (Peucedanum ostruthium and Angelica archangelica)
Historical description, not medical advice.