- Region
- Europe
- Origin
- Europe and western Asia, in wet meadows and ditches; naturalised in North America. Filipendula ulmaria
Europe · Herb · № 71
Filipendula ulmaria
Herb · Europe
Meadowsweet
Filipendula ulmaria
Contains salicylates. Traditionally used for heartburn, an irritated stomach and joint pain. Clinical research is scarce.
Safety notes
Avoid with aspirin or salicylate sensitivity, aspirin-induced asthma, alongside blood thinners, or for children with fever.
Cautions by tradition (2)
- Herbal medicine worldwide: Not with salicylate sensitivity.
- Western herbs in Chinese medicine: Contains salicylates: caution with hypersensitivity to aspirin or salicylates and with blood thinners. With diarrhoea in a child with dehydration or blood, see a doctor at once.
Preparation
The flowering herb as tea or tincture. No dosage is given here.
Use in traditions
In the 19th century salicylaldehyde was obtained from its flower buds. The name aspirin refers to Spiraea, the plant's old name. In the Middle Ages it was strewn on floors and used in mead. Ody counts it among the most important stomach herbs.
Applications
Use by tradition
How different herbal traditions describe this herb. Amounts are traditional guidelines checked for obvious errors; they are not medical advice. For poisonous plants no dosage is given on purpose.
Herbal medicine worldwide
Attributed effects
Anti-inflammatory, antirheumatic, soothing for digestion, diuretic, induces sweating.
Preparation and amount
Tea for feverish colds, stomach complaints in children and rheumatic pain; tincture for stomach ulcers and acidity (with liquorice) and arthritis (with angelica, willow, devil's claw); compress on painful joints; cooled tea as an eye bath.
Caution: Not with salicylate sensitivity.
Western herbalism
Attributed effects
Astringent, diuretic, decongestant (salicylic acid); relieves pain, fever and inflammation, strengthens tendons and ligaments, helps with gout, arthritis and rheumatism, curbs diarrhoea.
Preparation and amount
Tea: 1–2 tsp per cup, 8–10 min, 1–3 cups a day; tincture 1–3 dropperfuls a day.
Western herbs in Chinese medicine
- Nature and taste
- bitter, bland, astringent, slightly cold
- Meridians
- stomach, kidney, liver
Attributed effects
Cools heat and drains fire in stomach and intestines: stomach pain, excessive appetite, bleeding gums and bad breath, and diarrhoea from heat with abdominal pain, a burning anus and thirst for cold drinks. Works mildly and quickly and is therefore also known for diarrhoea in children. Cools heat from yin deficiency (nocturnal emission, headache, thirst, dull joint or back pain); the astringent action retains the body fluids. Drains damp heat in frequent, painful and scanty urination without exhausting the body fluids. In Western terms antacid, anti-inflammatory, pain-relieving and mildly disinfecting for the urine. Together with feverfew it is counted among the herbs that 'drain fire'; meadowsweet especially in the stomach and lower body.
Preparation and amount
3–9 g as a decoction or 2–4 ml tincture. Well-dried herb is green, with some small white flowers and 20–30% stem.
Caution: Contains salicylates: caution with hypersensitivity to aspirin or salicylates and with blood thinners. With diarrhoea in a child with dehydration or blood, see a doctor at once.
Folklore and herbal magic
Symbolic meanings from folk use and modern herbal magic. These are handed-down associations, not effects.
Peace, love, luck, psychic awareness.
- Ways to prepare herbs
- Tea (infusion)DecoctionTinctureCompress, poultice and paste