Meadowsweet

With its tall growth and fragrant white flowers, the real meadowsweet is a striking wild herb. The plant, botanically known as Filipendula ulmaria, is an important medicinal plant that can help against headaches as well as acne. In the kitchen, the flowers can be used primarily for delicious lemonades and desserts.

Origin and occurrence of meadowsweet

The real meadowsweet can be found today in most countries in Europe, as well as in some countries in North and Central Asia. The plant originally comes from Central and Eastern Europe and was a typical plant in alluvial forests. Today, however, the popular weeds are mainly found near the banks of flowing and standing waters as well as on moist meadows with nutrient-rich soils.

Where the plant occurs, it is often found in higher numbers in terms of area. Meadowsweet usually forms real plant sociological societies with yellow loosestrife, marsh horsetail, marsh cranesbill and real valerian
.
Systematics of Filipendula ulmaria

Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) is counted in botany to the rose family (Rosaceae) and is related to herbs such as lady's mantle, ormennig or meadow button. The rose family also includes many woody plants such as willow, apple tree, rose bush or cherry tree.

The genus Filipendula consists of 15 known species. In addition to the real meadowsweet (also the small meadowsweet (Filipendula vulgaris) occurs in Germany. However, the population of the latter is endangered and must therefore not be collected.

Meadowsweet is often referred to in older literature as a meadow goat's beard or a sparrow bush.

Characteristics of meadowsweet

The real meadowsweet is a hardy, perennial or perennial plant with an almost unmistakable appearance. The rose plant often reaches heights of between 80 and 200 cm, depending on the soil and location conditions. Roots: The plant has a creeping and reddish-brown colored rhizome with fine, slightly woody root strands.

The leaves are reminiscent of large rose petals. The mostly dark green and alternately arranged leaves are pinnate, clearly serrate and slightly hairy on the underside. The leaf veins are clearly visible and do not run synchronously. The stems of the meadowsweet are angular and only slightly branched.

Meadowsweet usually blooms between late May and August. The white, cream-colored flowers are arranged in an umbel-like arrangement and usually consist of 5 to 6 petals. What is striking is the strong and sweetish scent of flowers, which can be felt more intensely on mild evenings.

After the flowering period, meadowsweet forms small, belly-like nut fruits, which usually contain two seeds. The fruits can be collected in October.

Insects love meadowsweet - the ecological value

Meadowsweet is an extremely important and popular wild herb for bees, butterflies and many other insects. The flowers produce numerous pollen, which is often an important food crop for bumblebees and bees, especially in June and July.

In addition, the leaves are an important food source for the caterpillars of the meadowsweet mother-of-pearl butterfly, a type of butterfly that is becoming rarer in Central Europe from year to year.

Sowing, cultivation and care in the garden and balcony

Meadowsweet is best raised by seed. Both outdoors and larger balconies are suitable. Growing on small areas and keeping them indoors are difficult.

Location and soil

The real meadowsweet has slightly higher location requirements. The rose plant loves sunny to partially shaded locations with nutrient-rich, slightly loamy and rather moist soils. In addition, the soil must not be too acidic. Calcareous soils are preferred. If the meadowsweet is grown in gardens with more sandy soils, it is advisable to compact the respective location with compost. Sandy soil improvers such as clay powder or bentonite ensure that the water cannot run off too quickly.
sowing

The sowing of the meadowsweet seeds can be done from the end of April until September. The outside temperature should be at least 15 ° C as a guide.

The plants should be placed in the open at a distance of 30 to 40 cm. It should be noted that meadowsweet can grow up to 2 m high under optimal conditions. Always keep the soil slightly moist. A drying out of the soil is absolutely to be avoided, as the plant hardly recovers after drought stress. Meadowsweet is a typical alluvial forest inhabitant and tolerates waterlogging.

The rose plant can also be grown on the balcony under certain circumstances, but the plant then also needs a little more care. However, full sun should be avoided. In order to achieve the high growth, larger pots with a diameter of at least 30 cm should be selected. Corresponding depth must also be taken into account, as the roots creep and take up space.

Fertilize

With meadowsweet, fertilizer only needs to be used sparingly. If the plant grows at a good distance in a nutrient-rich soil, no additional nutrients are required. If the rose family is grown in the same location for several years, it is advisable to incorporate organic long-term fertilizers into the soil. Horn shavings, pelleted manure and compost are particularly suitable here.

If sparrows are grown in pots, continuous fertilization every 4 to 6 weeks is recommended. Shortly before flowering, a phosphorus-based fertilizer may be needed to further stimulate flowering.

Multiplication

Meadowsweet can also be increased by dividing it. Here it is completely sufficient to divide the rootstock and transplant it to another location.
wintering

Meadowsweet is a hardy perennial that does not require any special wintering measures. In spring the leaves sprout again from the creeping rhizome - in which meadowsweet survives the winter. After the fruit has ripened, it may be advisable to prune the plant.
harvest

When harvesting meadowsweet, both the young, green leaves as well as the inflorescences and fruits can be harvested. The herbs can be stored and dried. When drying the herbs, the inflorescences should be hung up.
Use of meadowsweet

Meadowsweet is used both as a kitchen plant and as a medicinal herb.

Use as a culinary herb

The use of this wild herb has wrongly decreased over the years. Meadowsweet can be used in many ways in the kitchen. All parts of the rose plant are generally edible, with the following uses in particular:

• Flowers: These have a sweet, almond-like and filigree sour taste and are mainly used for sweet desserts such as pudding, sorbets or creams, but also drinks such as smoothies and lemonades.
• Leaves: Young leaves in spring can be used as healthy wild food in salads or soups. The taste of the leaves is slightly spicy, nutty and medicinal. The older the leaves get, the more the spicy taste increases.
• Roots: The roots have a sweetish and parsnip-like taste, but also take some getting used to. They can be eaten in soups or steamed.

Meadowsweet is often used to flavor home-made beverages or to make jellies. Above all, it gives sweet foods and drinks a fine and bitter taste. Fruit compotes, puddings and even ice cream can also be seasoned perfectly with meadowsweet flowers

The flavors of the flower can easily be extracted with water extracts. Fruits such as apples, pears, cherries or peaches can be cut into small pieces, mixed with a few tablespoons of water and sprinkled with the flowers. The compotes should always steep for a few hours before they are consumed.

The leaves of meadowsweet can be used for salads, but also as a seasoning herb for game and fish dishes. The leaves can also be boiled and prepared in a similar way to spinach. If possible, however, only the young leaves should be used.

Meadowsweet is occasionally used for desserts in Belgian and French cuisine. There you make the ingredients of the herb your own. Especially with hearty dishes, these ensure that symptoms such as bloating and heartburn are alleviated.

Note: People who are hypersensitive to salicylic acid as well as asthmatics and pregnant women should refrain from consuming meadowsweet.

Meadowsweet as a medicinal herb

The real meadowsweet is a very old medicinal herb, which the ancient Romans and Teutons had already reported. According to Roman traditions, meadowsweet was a sacred herb for the Germanic peoples. The herb was also well known to Hildegard von Bingen. She had cultivated it in the monastery gardens and used it for compresses against pain of all kinds.

In the great herbal books of the Middle Ages, meadowsweet was usually only incompletely described. For example, the herb's pain relief received little attention. In the garden of health and in the herbal book by P. A. Matthioli, meadowsweet, which was still called the red saxifrage, is recommended especially for epilepsy, urinary problems and coughs. The medicinal plant, also known as the sparrow bush, was usually boiled in wine and sweetened with honey.

Meadowsweet is very important in today's folk medicine and naturopathy. Particular attention is paid to the salicylic acid compounds contained in the flowers. Nowadays, salicylic acid is mostly synthesized chemically and offered as acetylsalicylic acid in many painkillers (e.g. aspirin). Salicylic acid has analgesic, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial effects. In addition, the tannins they contain are of great importance. For example, the tannin ellagitannin ensures that mucous membranes are protected.

The ingredients contained in the sparrow are used today, among other things, for the treatment of the following ailments:

• a headache
• Bloating
• Flatulence
• Skin diseases
• blemished skin
• Joint pain
• arthritis
• Muscle spasms
• Fever resulting from colds
• supportive with colds or flu-like infections
• diarrhea
• heartburn

The herb can be presented in different ways, e.g. as a tea, as a tincture, as a bath additive, as an ingredient in steam baths, as a herbal wine or also pure. The most common dosage form, however, is a tea, which is mainly drunk when there is inflammation, pain or cold symptoms.

The fresh and young leaves, the flowers or the roots can be used to prepare a meadowsweet tea. Flowers are boiled in an infusion. The tea is said to have anti-inflammatory and diuretic properties. Some sources even report that tea made from real meadowsweet can protect against flu-like infections and alleviate the symptoms of an outbreak. Meadowsweet tea should always be drunk unsweetened. More than three cups a day and spread over the day should not be drunk. To prepare a cold tea, meadowsweet can also be mixed with other herbs such as quendel, thyme and linden blossom.

For the treatment of inflammatory skin or acne, it is advisable to prepare steam baths or ointments or creams based on meadowsweet. When preparing a steam bath, about 1 ½ to 2 teaspoons of fresh or dried meadowsweet cabbage are recommended, which must be poured over with a little hot but not boiling water. Boiling water would dissolve the salicylic acid and render it ineffective. To make an ointment, you can use linseed oil and fresh meadowsweet leaves (fresh flowers are better), which are prepared in a water bath. The oil should then steep one day and mixed with lanolin the next day. The ointment can then be applied evenly to the respective skin areas two to three times a day.

Side effects: People who are hypersensitive to salicylic acid as well as pregnant women and asthmatics should avoid meadowsweet products, or at least ask their doctor before using them. The salicylic compounds contained in the sparrow are considered mild pain relievers and fever relievers.
Buy meadowsweet - what should be considered?

Meadowsweet is available in all forms: as a plant, as a seed, as a tea or in creams. In supermarkets or shopping malls, however, the herbs are rarely found, if so in herbal shops or pharmacies. Fresh plants are rarely found in larger plant centers. In various online shops, however, the real meadowsweet should be able to be purchased without any problems.

If you decide to buy one or more meadowsweet plants, you should make sure that the leaves are dark green and not rolled. The stem axis should also be upright and stable. Make sure that there are no white spots on the sheets. White spots on the top of the leaves are often an indication of powdery mildew. Since meadowsweet requires moist soil, care mistakes can be made quite easily. After buying the plant, it should be placed in a sunny (not full sun!) Location and watered if possible. Same day repotting should be avoided.

If you are looking to buy meadowsweet seeds, you should pay close attention to the species. Both the real meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria), the pink meadowsweet (Filipendula rubra) and the small meadowsweet (Filipendula vulgaris) are offered. The small meadowsweet, for example, sometimes has different site conditions (drier soils) than the real one. Also, little is known or reported about the healing properties of the other two herbs.

If you don't have the space or conditions to grow meadowsweet, you can also use dried herbs. You can buy both the flowers and the leaves here. The prices for this are usually quite high, as the plant is rarely offered in stores. However, since the rose plant is used sparingly, the investment is definitely worthwhile.