Meadowsweet

Filipendula ulmaria

Rosaceae

Creamy meadow plumes that smell of almond and aspirin — a stomach-kinder willow analog.

Traditional European herb. Contains salicylates — treat like a gentle willow cousin.

Parts used: Flowering tops · Leaf
Traditional notes: Acid indigestion · Mild headache · Feverish colds · Rheumatic ache folklore
Grow · USDA 6b: Perennial, USDA 3–8 Division or plants. A ditch or rain-garden plant. In work: Jun · Jul · Aug
Harvest: Open plumes in midsummer, dry fast.

Wet feet. A ditch or pond edge, not a rockery.
Cut flowering tops as they foam cream.
The almond scent is the harvest cue.

Safety

Aspirin allergy Children with flu or chickenpox Active ulcer bleeding Third-trimester pregnancy

Lore

Queen of the meadow, and the plant from which salicylic acid was named — Spiraea, hence aspirin. It smells of hay and almonds when you pass a ditch in July.

The Herbarium — a teaching catalog, not a clinic. Traditional use is history, not a prescription. USDA 6b dates are a week either way, not a promise. Do not eat, drink, or harvest a plant you cannot name.