Meadowsweet

Queen of the meadow

The queen of the meadow is an old name for meadowsweet, which with its white skirts lights up along the  Kongeå in the middle of summer.

Wine, dance and women

As its name says, the sweet-smelling meadowsweet has been used to add a sweet taste to the homemade mead. Meadowsweet has also been used to improve the taste of wine and bear. Meadowsweet in wine was also supposed to cure adder bites and ”create desire in women”. The plant has been used to cure many different diseases as it contains large amounts of the painkiller salicylic acid, and it can also be effective against a hangover the next day.

In Sweden, people reportedly laid meadowsweet on the dance floor. The dancing feet crushed the plants and the sweet smell spread in the dance hall.

Facts: Height 50-150 cm. Blooms in June-August, with an approximately 15cm open inflorescence with yellow-white flowers with five petals. The leaves have 3-5 pairs of serrated leaflets. Meadowsweet grows together with other tall weeds in damp soil along streams and on ungrazed meadows and bogs.