Native to Europe, Meadowsweet grows easily in damp places, preferring ditches and the banks of streams and rivers. Meadowsweet has a perennial reaching of 1.5 m, with toothed leaves and clusters of creamy, scented flowers. The flowering tops and leaves contain salicylates that reduce inflammation.
In Ancient times, Meadowsweet was known as a painkiller in articulation and rheumatism pains, but it was later forgotten. Traces of its use were only found again in the 18th Century. In 1835, in Berlin, Karl J. Löwig isolated and identified salicylic acid, an anti-inflammatory and analgesic precursor to aspirin (the word itself comes from an old name given to Meadowsweet: Spirea). Meadowsweet was largely used against fever, headaches, toothaches, articulation pains, tendinitis, sprains etc.
In the old days, Meadowsweet flowers were used to flavour some beers or wines such as hydromel. They provide an Almond taste and are still used by some creative chefs in jams and fruit compotes.
The flower was used to dye fabric yellow and the whole plant, as it is rich in tannins, was used to tan leather. Latins and Greeks used Meadowsweet as decoration and made crowns for Sylphs. Meadowsweet is the symbol of love.
INCI name
Glycerin (and) Spiraea Ulmaria Flower Extract
