Queen Of The Meadow (Filipendula ulmaria)
Description
The stems are 1-2 m (3.3-6.6 ft) tall, erect and furrowed, reddish to sometimes purple. The leaves are dark-green on the upper side and whitish and downy underneath, much divided, interruptedly pinnate, having a few large serrate leaflets and small intermediate ones. Terminal leaflets are large, 4-8 cm long, and three- to five-lobed. Meadowsweet has delicate, graceful, creamy-white flowers clustered close together in irregularly-branched cymes, having a very strong, sweet smell. They flower from early summer to early autumn and are visited by various types of insects, in particular Musca flies. Filipendula is a perennial herb growing to 70 cm high. The flowers are small and numerous, they show 5 sepals and 5 petals with 7 to 20 stamens. Meadowsweet leaves are commonly galled by the bright orange-rust fungus Triphragmium ulmariae, which creates swellings and distortions on the stalk and/or midrib.
Taxonomic tree
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Domain: Eukarya
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Kingdom: Plantae
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Phylum: Magnoliophyta
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Class: Magnoliopsida
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Order: Rosales
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Family: Rosaceae
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Genus: Filipendula
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