Fields of flowering meadowsweet
Photos: Arne Ader
Translation: Liis
Meadowsweet
Meadowsweet Harilik angervaks Filipendula ulmaria
Sometimes simply forests of meadowsweet grow on the moist soils of river, creek and lake banks; the height can be that of a small man, a metre and a half: thickets quite hard get through.
The great density comes about in suitably humid soils and with many propagation modes (there are many seeds and the rhizome is powerful); other plants are driven off from the growing area. In less humid locations it won’t be as bad.
You don’t simply pass by the creamy-white meadowsweet fields. Individual flowers are only centimetre-sized but the inflorescences are several tens of centimetres long and the locality arrestingly beautiful. The smell is strong, interesting and attractive, reminding of almonds and a touch of cinnamon, but can cause a headache.
The lower parts of the stems are woody and the whole stem is covered by rough furrows. Domestic cattle will not eat meadowsweet but for insects the flowering meadowsweets are irresistible.
Meadowsweet. Saarnaki islet
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