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MEADOWSWEET FILIPENDULA (= SPIRAEA) ULMARIA An excellent medicine in fevers attended with purgings. A fragrant meadow herb with small white flowers that appear like umbels at the tops of the stalks Where to find it: By river-sides and in moist meadows. Flowering time: Early summer. Astrology. Jupiter is regent of this herb. Medicinal virtues: The flowers are alexipharmic and sudorific and good in fevers and all malignant distempers. They are astringent, binding and useful in all fluxes. An infusion of the freshly gathered tops of this plant promotes sweating. It is a good wound-herb taken inwardly or externally applied. A water distilled from the flowers is good for inflammations of the eyes. Modern uses.. Since the discovery that Meadowsweet contains methyl salicylate, it has been used as an anti-rheumatic agent with successful results. Its astringency makes it a specific for simple diarrhoea. It has also earned the tag of the herbal bicarbonate of soda, and is useful for dyspepsia. Its diuretic property makes it of use in dropsy and oedema of the limbs. |