Meadowsweet / Filipendula ulmaria
Meadowsweet is a member of the rose family that favours wet habitats, such as ditches, damp meadows and riverbanks. It blooms from June to September and displays a 'froth' of creamy-white flowers, densely packed together in flower heads that sit on erect stems. Its dark green leaves are divided into pairs of leaflets and have silvery undersides sometimes covered with a bright orange rust fungus.
Its sweet smell encouraged people to display it in their houses in past times; but if crushed, it can smell more like antiseptic!
The flowers of Meadowsweet are sometimes used in wine, beer and vinegar, or to give jams a subtle almond flavour. In fact, the common name of this plant likely arose as a result of it being used to flavour mead.
Source: The Wildlife Trusts
Meadowsweet / Filipendula ulmaria
Meadowsweet is a member of the rose family that favours wet habitats, such as ditches, damp meadows and riverbanks. It blooms from June to September and displays a 'froth' of creamy-white flowers, densely packed together in flower heads that sit on erect stems. Its dark green leaves are divided into pairs of leaflets and have silvery undersides sometimes covered with a bright orange rust fungus.
Its sweet smell encouraged people to display it in their houses in past times; but if crushed, it can smell more like antiseptic!
The flowers of Meadowsweet are sometimes used in wine, beer and vinegar, or to give jams a subtle almond flavour. In fact, the common name of this plant likely arose as a result of it being used to flavour mead.
Source: The Wildlife Trusts