MEADOWSWEET, FILIPENDULA ULMARIAMeadowsweet has been used for centuries in the UK and is mentioned in the Welsh Mabinogion. Remains of the flowers have been found in burial mounds or cairns of cremated human remains dating from the Bronze Age in Fan Foel, Carmarthenshire in West Wales and in beakers from Fife in Scotland, so the flowers may have been in mead the honey-based drink that meadowsweet was often put into to give it an
almond flavour. They may also have been planted on graves for their fragrance. In the Mabinogion, Math and Gwydion made a woman out of
oak blossom,
broom and meadowsweet and called her Blodeuwedd (Flower Face). The Druids held meadowsweet in high regards as it was one of their three most sacred herbs along with
vervain and water-mint.
It is a member of the
rose family and native to Europe, where it prefers to grow in moist places. It has red-purple stems and fern-like leaves with cream-white flowers blooming between June and the beginning of September. The whole plant is best harvested in July when in flower, and dried for future use either in cooking or for medicinal purposes. The dried flowers can be put into pot pourri or used to make a tisane. The leaves smell good too and the whole upper parts of the plant were strewn on floors in Mediaeval times to give rooms a pleasant smell. Gerard writing in his
Herball in the 16
th century says “the smell thereof maketh the heart merrie and joyful and delighteth the senses.” In this way it seems to be rather like
borage, which was also put in drinks and was also one of the ingredients of the drink “Save” along with meadowsweet and 48 others mentioned by Geoffrey Chaucer in his 14
th century “Canterbury Tales” in “The Knight’s Tale”. It is believed that Queen Elizabeth I had meadowsweet strewn in her chambers, and country people used to put the flowers in cupboards and wardrobes to make them smell good. Meadowsweet has been an additive to wine and beers for centuries in Europe and it’s worth trying white or red wine with a meadowsweet leaf in it.
The plant was called Bridewort because it was strewn in churches for weddings and in bridal chambers. Other names for it are Queen or Lady of the Meadows, because it is a beautiful, fragrant plant which can grow up to 4 feet tall so is easily seen above other meadow plants. It used to be called
Spiraea ulmaria, ulmaria meaning elm-like and it has been suggested that this is either because the upper side of its leaves look a little like those of the elm tree, as they are wrinkled, or because the plant has similar properties to
Slippery Elm Bark, i.e. salicylic acid. This is the basis for aspirin and it is thought that Bayer who began selling aspirin in 1899 made the name from the botanical name of the meadowsweet. The Italian, Rafaele Piria had first extracted this acid from the meadowsweet and willow bark (
Salix alba) earlier in the 19
th century. The tisane made from the flowers will cure headaches, it is said. Its newer Latin name,
Filipendula means hanging from a thread.
The English herbalists John Gerard (16th century) and Nicholas Culpeper (17th century) believed that the distilled water from the flowers was good to relieve the eyes from burning and itching sensations and that it clears the sight.
Throughout the centuries the herb has been employed as a remedy for numerous ailments, and is used in Germany for colds- it contains
vitamin C and flu. With
lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) it is good for stomach problems. It contains tannins,
flavonoids including the flavonoid glycosides rutin, hyperin and spiracoside, found in the flowers, and phenolic glycosides which include spiraein, monotropin and gaultherin. It has been used to treat diarrhoea and contains tannins, to purify the blood, to help promote sweat in fevers, as an infusion of the fresh flowering tops is a diaphoretic. (Take a handful of flowers and pour a cup of boiling water over them and steep for 15 minutes then strain and drink.) You can also boil an ounce of the fresh chopped root in white wine to reduce the symptoms of fever. You can make a tisane with 1 ounce of the dried herb to 1 pint of boiling water and steep for 15 minutes before straining. This can also be used externally for skin problems. This is supposedly good for peptic ulcers, acid indigestion, joint problems, respiratory problems such as wheezing and coughs, and for diarrhoea. However, if you are allergic to aspirin, or salicylate or sulphate or are pregnant or breast-feeding then you should not take meadowsweet. A decoction of the roots is preferred for respiratory problems and diarrhoea, use boiling water instead of the white wine in the remedy above. In mice it has been found that extracts of meadowsweet can decrease cervix and vaginal cancers and act as a sedative. Meadowsweet has a narcotic effect on animals in the lab it would seem. The recommended daily dose for meadowsweet is 2½ - 3½ gr. of the dried flower and 4-5 gr of the whole herb. The tisane of flowers only is a mild diuretic.
It has recognized anti-inflammatory properties and has been used for aches and arthritis. In the Middle Ages women used to collect rainwater and mix it with the meadowsweet flowers to use as a skin cleanser and toner. You can use the fresh leaves in sorbets and fruit salads and in other desserts as sweeteners. The flowers can be added to jams and compotes for a subtle almond flavour.
The following medicinal preparations were used by the Welsh Physicians of Myddfai:-
To dispel stones form the internal organs-
If the disease be gravel, make a medicine of the following herbs, mascerated in strong clear
wheat ale, viz. water pimpernel,
tutsan, meadow sweet,
St. John's wort,
ground ivy,
agrimony, milfoil,
birch,
common burnet, columbine, motherwort, laurel, gromwel,
betony, borage,
dandelion, little field
madder,
amphibious persicaria, liverwort.
To restrain an active haemorrhage: take meadowsweet, digest in cold water, and drink thereof, and this will stop it by the help of God.
For lung diseases:-
Let (the patient) take, for three successive days, of the following herbs;
hemlock, agrimony,
herb Robert, and
asarabacca, then let him undergo a three day's course of aperients. When the disease is thus removed from the bronchial tubes, an emetic should be given him (daily) to the end of nine days. Afterwards let a medicine be prepared, by digesting the following herbs in wheat ale or red wine: madder, sharp dock,
anise, agrimony,
daisy, round birthwort, meadow sweet,
yellow goat's beard, heath,
water avens,
woodruff, crake berry, the corn cockle,
caraway, and such other herbs as will seem good to the physician.
Snake Fruit is cultivated in Thailand, Malaysia and has been introduced to Queensland, Australia, New Guinea, the Philippines, and Ponope Island in the Caroline Archipelago. It is reported as growing in the pacific Island of Fiji. Now it is grown throughout Indonesia and two of the most famous cultivars are those of Bali (Salak Bali) and Salak Pondah from Java. Salak Pondah is dry and crumbly in texture, while that of Salak Bali is moist and crunchy. They are said to taste like a combination of apple, pineapple and banana. Most of the fruit is consumed in the countries where it grows, as it needs to be eaten within a week of picking to be at its best. A very small fraction of the fruit is exported to Singapore, from whence it may go further afield. It can be found in pickles “asinan salak” as these are called in Indonesia, and candied, known as “manisan salak.” The fruit is also canned and juice is also sold. 
Even where it is cultivated this fruit is not common, and in November 2010 the production of the Salak Pondah was hit when Mount Merapi erupted and volcanic ash destroyed the fruit trees in Yogyakarta province where there are around thirty cultivars of Snake Fruit trees. There is an area of 20 kilometres in diameter around Mount Merapi where crops have bee decimated by the ash from the volcano, and as these trees take three or four years to bear fruit, the farmers are in the region have been hard hit.
The Snake Fruit trees need to be grown under shade trees and are often interspersed with banana and mango trees. The fruit grows in clusters at the base of the tree and they weigh on average about 90 grams each. The fruit is pointed at each end, and has seeds in it. The seeds of the unripe Salak Pondah fruit are edible, but those of other cultivars are not. The fruit is rich in vitamin C in the form of ascorbic acid, and contains flavonoids and phenolic compounds. Little research has been done on this tree and its fruit, although what has been done suggests that it has potent antioxidant properties. This is perhaps that the palm is a relatively recent discovery to the world, as it was only found in the 1980s. Unlike tropical fruits like the mangosteen, rambutan and lychee, the snake fruit is not soft and succulent, but on the contrary is generally firm and crisp. Unripe snake fruit is pickled and also used in a salad called rujak.
