Meadowsweet

Western Bulk Herbs – Meadowsweet

Called nature’s aspirin, meadowsweet is one of the healing herbs the German E Commission supports as a treatment for fever and common colds and for treating influenza, rheumatism and kidney and bladder complaints. It been used to make aspirin since the late 1800s.

Latin Name:
Filipendula ulmaria

Common Names:
Queen of the Meadow, Dropwort, Bridewort, rumpet weed, Rios Cuchulainn, Meadow wort, Drop wort, and Pride of the Meadow.

Parts Used:
Leaves and aerial parts healing and flowers for flavoring.

Properties:
Anti-inflammatory, diuretic, and astringent

Traditional Uses:
Tea infusions, capsules or extract and sometimes in food.

Topical Uses / Applications:

Culinary Uses:
Not used in cooking.

Folk Lore:
Nicholas Culpepper wrote in 1652 that meadowsweet “helps in the speedy recovery from cholic disorders and removes the instability and constant change in the stomach.”

It was one of the three sacred herbs renowned by Druids, along with vervain and water-mint. Its historical use is confirmed by the German E Commission.

Chemical Properties:
salicin, polyphenolic tannins, especially rugosin-D; 0.5-1.0% flavonoids, quercetin and kaempferol derivatives; phenolic glycosides, mostly spiraein and monotropitin, the primeverosides of salicylaldehyde and methyl salicylate, also isosalicin, a glucoside of salicyl alcohol; volatile oil, mainly; mucilage; and ascorbic acid

Cautions:
Do not use if you are allergic to salicylates or in combination with warfarin or other blood-thinning medications.

*Disclaimer: These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Resources:
PDR for Herbal Medicines, 2000. Medical Economics Company, Montvale, New Jersey.

The New Holistic Herbal. David Hoffmann, 1990. Barnes and Noble Books, New York.

A Modern Herbal, Mrs. M. Grieve, (Dover Publications, New York, 1971)

Major Herbs of Ayurvedic.Compiled by Dahur Research Foundation and Dahur Ayurvet Limited, Ghaziabad, India., 2002. Churchill Livingstone, London, England.

Chinese Herbal Medicine: Materia Medica, Third Edition, Dan Bensky and Andrew Gamble, 1986. Eastland Press, Seattle, WA.