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Dropwort

Filipendula vulgaris

Also called Common Queen Of The Meadow

Dropwort
Photo: Ivar Leidus, CC BY-SA 4.0
Family
Rosaceae (Rose family)
Grows as
Fern, Perennial
Light
Full sun, Part shade
Native range
Azores, NW. Africa, Europe to S. Siberia and Iran
Climate
temperate

About

Filipendula vulgaris, commonly known as dropwort or fern-leaf dropwort, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the family Rosaceae, closely related to meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria). It is found in Europe, western Siberia, Asia Minor, the Caucusus and North Africa. It prefers dry pastures, mostly on lime rich soils.

The leaves and roots are a source of methyl salicylate (oil of wintergreen).

How to grow it

Propagation is by seed and the division of the creeping roots. The tuberous roots and young leaves can be cooked as a vegetable or eaten raw as a salad. The taste is bitter sweet. The mature leaves smell of oil of wintergreen when crushed, due to the release of methyl salicylate.

Other Filipendula plants

Korean Meadowsweet · Multi Ridge Meadowsweet · Filipendula palmata · Queen of the prairie · Meadowsweet · Queen

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Filipendula vulgaris by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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