meadowsweet

Popular names: meadowsweet, whitehead, wet raspberry, honeydew.

Parts Used: Flowering herb, mostly flowers, and rhizome.

Pharmacy name: meadowsweet flowers – Spiraeae flos (formerly: Flores Spiraeae), meadowsweet grass – Spiraeae herba (formerly: Herba Spiraeae).

Botanical description. A perennial semi-shrub is fixed in the soil with a strong rhizome. The stems reach a height of 1 m and are often cast in red. The leaves are alternate, pinnate. Their large and small segments alternate with each other, have distinct pinnate venation, crenate or serrate margins, and are silvery pubescent on the underside. Small white flowers with numerous stamens are collected in paniculate inflorescences at the ends of the shoots. Blooms from June to August. Occurs along ditches and stream banks, traditionally swampy. Wet meadows are favorite places for meadowsweet thickets, which you recognize from afar by its elevated flower-bearing shoots.

Collection and preparation. Cut off the upper part of the plant when the flowers are fully bloomed, tied in bunches and hung out to dry. To collect falling flowers, a canvas is spread below. The drying temperature must not exceed 40°C.

Active ingredients: a little essential oil, flavonol glycosides, tannins, mucus and salicylic acid compounds.

Healing action and application. Tea is used against gout and rheumatism, its urinary and diaphoretic effects are used in the so-called blood-purifying course. The value of this medicinal plant is disputed by doctors.

Use in homeopathy. Homeopathic product Spiraea ulmaria is prepared from fresh rhizomes. It is a good remedy for chronic and acute articular rheumatism, and works well for sciatica. In the treatment, the initial tincture and the first two dilutions (Dl and D 1 ) are used; take 5-10 (up to 15) drops from 2 to several times every day.

Application in folk medicine. Meadowsweet here is valued as a proven remedy for dropsy, rheumatism and gout. o Meadowsweet tea: 1-2 teaspoons of crushed dry flowers are poured into 1/4 liter of boiling water and insisted for 10 minutes, then filtered. Optimal dosage: 1 cup of tea 2 times every day in small sips. In some cases, this tea manages to bring down the heat.

Side effects. An overdose can lead to stomach problems and cause nausea.

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