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Meadowsweet floodplain

 

 

In the moist soil on river, creek and lake banks sometimes a forest of meadowsweet grows at a ”small man’s height”, or one and a half metres. It is a thicket quite difficult to pass.

 

On a suitably moist soil a very dense plant population is established, and with several different propagation modes (the plant has masses of seeds and a powerful rhizome) – other plants are driven off from the habitat. In less humid areas the situation will not be as bad.

 

One does not pass the creamy-white meadowsweet fields without noticing. Individual flowers are only centimetre-sized, but the inflorescences are several tens of centimetres long, which makes the habitat astonishingly beautiful. The smell is strong, interesting and pleasing, reminding of almonds and a tiny bit cinnamon – but sensitive persons may get a headache from the aroma.

 

The lower parts of the stems are lignified and the whole stem is covered with rough veins. Domestic cattle will not eat meadowsweet, but to insects flowering meadowsweets are irresistible.

 

Meadowsweet

 

The somewhat similar dropwort is described here LINK