Description
It’s a vivacious, perennial plant with a thick
horizontal underground rhizome, from where leaves and stems sprout out in
spring, reaching up to 1.5 m
in height. Stems are sharp-cornered and prismatic in section, tinted in red
with an inner spongy medulla. Leaves are alternate, pinnate-shaped; basal ones
are found in 8-20 pairs of large folioles and plenty of small ones. The upper
ones, not so many, are found in 2-3 pairs of large folioles and many pairs of
smaller folioles. All folioles are oval-shaped, with an asymmetrical base,
sharp apex and double-serrated margin, of 2-8 cm. They are usually dark
green, glabrous above and silverish tomentose beneath (densely covered by long,
plain and entwined hairs). The terminal foliole is most of the divided into
three parts. Stipules are exposed, well developed and auriculate. The
yellowish-white flowers are up to 5
mm in diameter and are displaced in corymbose branched
inflorescences. Outer branches are longer than the inner ones, slightly scented
with 5 sepals firmly attached to the base. The corolla has 5 white petals of 2-3 mm in length; it has
numerous long stamens with rounded anthers and 6 or 7 whitish styles. Fruits
are achenia, apocarpous gynoecium, with 5 to 10 free carpels, elongated and
slightly spirally twisted, holding brown seeds within. Ovaries are
polyfollicular. It belongs to the Rosaceae family.
Meadowsweet blooms in spring It grows in
swamps, marshes, meadows by slow flow rivers and ponds. From sea-level up to 1,500 m altitude. Harvest
is made in summer, before flowers completely open.
Part used
The flowers.
Indications
Internal use
> Joints inflammation:
arthrosis and arthritis, especially when fluids retention is present, along
with joint and vessel congestion.
> Hyperuricemia, gout.
> Oliguria, kidney lithiasis, edemas, urethritis, Meniere’s disease and cellulite.
> Fever conditions, cold and flu, bronchitis.
> Thromboembolism and atherosclerosis.
> Headaches.
> Diarrhea.
External use
> As hot compresses
applied directly on the affected zones.
> As a cicatrizant in
cuts, burns, insect bites and ulcers.
