Meadowsweet plant

That s quite a claim for the little pill that was concocted in 1897 by Felix Hoffmann, a chemist working for the Bayer company in Germany. While Hoffmann did synthesize the first commercial sample of acetylsalicylic acid, as aspirin is known generically, he wasn t the first to produce the substance in the laboratory. That honor goes to Karl Friedrich Gerhardt, who, in 1853 at Montpellier University in France, concocted an impure version with an eye towards improving on the effects of salicylic acid, a commonly used painkiller. At the time salicylic acid was extracted from the leaves of the meadowsweet plant and used for the treatment of fevers and pain, particularly of the arthritic variety. But it had to be taken in... 

The word aspirin is derived from the prefix a- for acetyl + spir from the Latin name spirea for the meadowsweet plant. 

Salicylic acid (also called spiric acid, hence the name aspirin [ a for acetyl]) in extracts from the bark of the willow tree or from the meadowsweet plant had been used since ancient times (see Chapter 16 Opening) to treat pain, fever, and swelling. This acid was first isolated in pure... 

The behavioural responses of adult female western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis, to volatiles from meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria), bay laurel and sage (Salvia officinalis) were investigated in laboratory bioassays by Chermenskaya et al. (2001). Volatiles collected by entrainment of a solvent extract of F. ulmaria were more attractive than was the original extract. F. occidentalis also was attracted significantly to volatiles from L. nobilis and S. officinalis. Analysis by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry identified 1,8-cineole (euca-lyptol) as one of the main volatile components of all three plant species. In coupled... 

Meadowsweet was used widely as a headache remedy. It is considered that just walking through it clears the head. Analysis of the compounds in the plant shows that it contains flavonoids, salicylates, tannins, volatile oils and other compounds such as coumarin, mucilage and ascorbic acid. It is currently used as a food flavouring, in beverages. It is also reported to be used for dyspepsia, muscular pains and peptic ulcers. 

Pond-edge flowering plants provide nectar for butterflies, bees, and other insects. Examples are marsh marigold (Caltha palustris), ragged robin (Lychnis flos-cuculi), and meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria). 

Meadowsweet Filipendula ulmaria) is a common wild plant in Britain, Europe, and North America that also contains salicin, but it is not as potent as willow bark which has a higher salicin content. Its primary medicinal actions are antirheumatic, anti-inflammatory, carminative, antacid, antiemetic, astringent, and diuretic. The flower buds of meadowsweet are the source for salicin and methyl salicylate. Ingestion of the flower buds in a tea results in the breakdown of salicin to salicylic acid. Nicholas Culpeper, a seventeenth-century English pharmacist, mentioned the use of meadowsweet flower buds to help break fevers and promote sweating during a cold or flu. 

Meadowsweet flower has been reported to contain "heparin-like compounds" bound to plant proteins. In animal studies, injections of these compounds showed anticoagulant and fibrinolytic activity (Kudriashov et al. 1990,1991). The relevance of those data to oral use of meadowsweet in humans is not known. 

Meadowsweet (Fillpendula ulmaria). For its essential oils, the blossoms of this plant were formerly used to produce mead, a fermented brew similar to beer. 

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