Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) · Herb Profile

At a glance

Botanical name: Filipendula ulmaria
Family: Rosaceae
Part used: Aerial Parts
Taste: Sweet, Astringent
Temperature: Cool
Moisture: Dry

On temperature, the old sources disagree: Gerard (1633) reads it as cool; Salmon (1710) reads it as neutral. The app keeps cool, the modern reading of what the herb does in the body; the old readings are shown here but do not change it.

Safety at a glance

In pregnancy

Generally safe; salicylate caution

While breastfeeding

Avoid during breastfeeding — salicylate transfer, Reye's syndrome precaution in infant.

For children

Avoid under 12 (aspirin/Reye's syndrome association with salicylates)

Cautions

Avoid with aspirin/NSAID sensitivity (salicylate content); caution with anticoagulants

General contraindications

Generally considered safe in moderation; salicylates — avoid high dose

Stewardship

Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) is abundant in damp European meadows. Source of original salicylates before synthetic aspirin. Stewardship: 'spirea' — the namesake of aspirin — teaches that pharmacology is downstream of herbalism.

In the traditional record

Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria / Spiraea ulmaria) — recorded in the Welsh Mabinogion as one of the three sacred herbs of the druids and used as a bridal strewing herb in Tudor English households; salicylic acid was first isolated from this plant in the 1830s, giving the name "aspirin" (a- + Spiraea), and Culpeper recorded it as a cooling, astringent remedy for fevers and digestive complaints.

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Educational use

The Apothecary is educational and does not constitute medical advice. Nothing here is intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before changing what you take, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or managing a diagnosed condition.

On our sources

These entries draw on public-domain materia medica, most of it published before 1900, alongside a smaller number of modern reference works. Energetic qualities such as warming, cooling, drying and moistening are a traditional framework for describing how a plant behaves in the body, not a laboratory measurement. Where a period source states one, we cite it. Where none does, and for many North American herbs none exists, the value reflects modern herbal consensus rather than a historical text. When we cannot support a caution with real evidence, we say nothing rather than guess.