Filipendula ulmaria: Difference between revisions
m nomialbot — converted multi-template taxobox to {{Taxobox}} |
Transfer129 (talk | contribs) No edit summary |
||
| Line 17: | Line 17: | ||
'''Meadowsweet''' (''Filipendula ulmaria'') is a [[Perennial plant|perennial]] [[herb]] in the family [[Rosaceae]], which grows in damp [[meadow]]s. It is native throughout most of [[Europe]] and western [[Asia]]. |
'''Meadowsweet''' (''Filipendula ulmaria'') is a [[Perennial plant|perennial]] [[herb]] in the family [[Rosaceae]], which grows in damp [[meadow]]s. It is native throughout most of [[Europe]] and western [[Asia]]. |
||
Meadowsweet has also been referred to as Queen of the Meadow, Pride of the Meadow, Bridewort, and [[Spiraea]]. |
|||
The stems are 1-2 m tall, erect and furrowed, reddish to sometimes purple. The [[leaf|leaves]] are dark green on the upper side and whitish and downy underneath, much divided, interruptedly pinnate, having a few large serrate leaflets and small intermediate ones. Terminal leaflets are large, 4-8 cm long and three to five-lobed. |
The stems are 1-2 m tall, erect and furrowed, reddish to sometimes purple. The [[leaf|leaves]] are dark green on the upper side and whitish and downy underneath, much divided, interruptedly pinnate, having a few large serrate leaflets and small intermediate ones. Terminal leaflets are large, 4-8 cm long and three to five-lobed. |
||
Revision as of 23:31, 3 March 2006
| Meadowsweet | |
|---|---|
| |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Division: | |
| Class: | |
| Order: | |
| Family: | |
| Subfamily: | |
| Genus: | |
| Species: | F. ulmaria
|
| Binomial name | |
| Filipendula ulmaria | |
Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) is a perennial herb in the family Rosaceae, which grows in damp meadows. It is native throughout most of Europe and western Asia.
Meadowsweet has also been referred to as Queen of the Meadow, Pride of the Meadow, Bridewort, and Spiraea.
The stems are 1-2 m tall, erect and furrowed, reddish to sometimes purple. The leaves are dark green on the upper side and whitish and downy underneath, much divided, interruptedly pinnate, having a few large serrate leaflets and small intermediate ones. Terminal leaflets are large, 4-8 cm long and three to five-lobed.
Meadowsweet has delicate, graceful, creamy-white flowers clustered close together in handsome irregularly-branched cymes, having a very strong, sweet smell. They flower from June to early September.
The name ulmaria means "elmlike", an odd epithet as it does not resemble the elm (Ulmus) in any way.
Uses
The whole herb possesses a pleasant taste and flavour, the green parts having a similar aromatic character to the flowers, leading to the use of the plant to strew on floors to give the rooms a pleasant aroma, and its use to flavour wine and beer. Meadowsweet was regarded as sacred by the druids. It is reputed to have many medicinal properties.
In 1897 Felix Hoffmann created a synthetically altered version of salicin, derived from the species, which caused less digestive upset than pure salicylic acid. The new drug, formally Acetylsalicylic acid, was named aspirin by Hoffman's employer Bayer AG. This gave rise to the hugely important class of drugs known as NonSteroidal AntiInflammatory Drugs, or NSAIDs.