Filipendula ulmaria
This beautiful plant produces soft delicate blooms in midsummer that have an almost intoxicating sweet scent. It is an aromatic herb that grows throughout Europe and western Asia in wet ground such as marshes, wet woods and by rivers.
Traditional herbal medicine has used meadowsweet as an anti-inflammatory and pain killer for centuries. This is due to compounds known as salicylates which meadowsweet is rich in. Asprin, one of the first modern painkillers and anti-inflammatories to be produced was based on meadowsweet and contains a compound known as acetylsalicylic acid. In fact the name Aspirin comes from the old Latin name for Meadowsweet, Spiraea ulmaria, with the letter A coming from the Acetyl.
Meadowsweet is rich in compounds known as tannins, which have an astringent effect. It’s ability to soothe inflamed skin or acne stems from its salicylic acid and tannin content. Salicylic acid is often used in acne treatments as it has the ability to dissolve the dead skin cells and oil that build up and block the pores and reduce the associated inflammation.
The multitude of antioxidants within meadowsweet along with the tannins and salicylates and its ability to inhibit excessive bacterial activity in the skin make meadowsweet a valuable medicinal plant that offers support to the skin against signs of ageing, improving acne and the associated inflammation, sun damage, and even brown skin patches known as melasma.
Our Meadowsweet is biodynamically grown for us in the UK and is certified organic.
