meadowsweet

American  

[med-oh-sweet] / ˈmɛd oʊˌswit /

noun

1. any plant belonging to the genus Spiraea, of the rose family, especially S. latifolia, having white or pink flowers.

2. any plant of the closely related genus Filipendula (orUlmaria ).

---

meadowsweet British  

/ ˈmɛdəʊˌswiːt /

noun

1. a Eurasian rosaceous plant, Filipendula ulmaria, with dense heads of small fragrant cream-coloured flowers See also dropwort

2. any of several North American rosaceous plants of the genus Spiraea, having pyramid-shaped sprays of small flowers

---

Etymology

Origin of meadowsweet

First recorded in 1520–30; meadow + sweet

Example Sentences

Michelin-starred chef Adam Handling has been using foraged meadowsweet, which he uses to replace vanilla, since he opened his restaurant The Frog in east London in 2016.

From BBC • Oct. 27, 2024

No matter that I’m allergic to almost everything: resiny hemlocks, sweet clover, vanilla-scented bedstraw and almondy meadowsweet.

From Washington Post • Aug. 5, 2022

Main Avenue, home to the major show gardens, was awash with broad-leaved trees among a calming palette of green, pale yellow and white flowers, including swathes of cow parsley, euphorbias and meadowsweet.

From The Guardian • May 22, 2019

Reinforcing the sweet’s bitter almond note are some of the flavors of Finland, including meadowsweet, an aromatic flower, and rowan berry.

From Washington Post

June burst into bloom—daisies, larkspur, meadowsweet and thyme, foxglove and thimbleberry, purple thistle flowers, and yellow whorls of blooming fennel.

From "The Midwife's Apprentice" by Karen Cushman