Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria)

Edibility:Edible

Eating notes: The flowers and leaves of Meadowsweet have traditionally been used for flavouring a range of drinks including mead - hence its alternative name of Meadwort.
A tea can also be made from the flowers which, since they contain salicylic acid (aspirin,) acts as a natural pain remedy.

Meadowsweet is a locally common herb growing in damp ground on marshes and river banks.

Height: 120 - 160cm

Leaves: Meadowsweet leaves are quite distinctive. Pairs of oval leaflets grow along a pinkish stem with tiny leaflets on the stem in between. The leaf stem a deeply divided three (sometimes five) pointed terminal leaf. All leaves are sharply and regularly toothed, darker above and silvery below.

Flowers: White loosely formed clusters of small flowers with yellow/cream centres and multiple long stamen.

Stems: Plants grow in a branching structure. Stems are smooth and often tinged with red 

Seeds: The seed pods are also distinctive with seeds spiralling around each other in a twisted ball.

Look-a-likes: The flowers and leaves are sufficiently distinctive for Meadowsweet not to be easily confused with anything else.