THE third week of July is meteorogically halfway through summer. If any time could be described as high summer, then the time is now.

Walk anywhere damp at this time of year and the frothy creamy-white flowers of Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) are in full flower. I often stop to pick a stalk, crush it vigorously, and then inhale. You then get that overwhelming smell of Germolene. This antiseptic was used liberally during my childhood, and I suspect yours too.

As a member of the rose family, it has the usual five petals and multiple stamens. But it is the seed pods which are fascinating, spiralled into a tight ball, looking like that 70s touch of sweet indulgence, a walnut whip (photo insert).

Meadowsweet also has an interesting medical past and has played its part in one of the most prescribed medicines today – Aspirin.

The medicinal effects of willow bark have been known since Greek and Roman times, who used it for pain relief, joint problems, and to lower fever. Despite this, the Reverend Edward Stone, vicar of Chipping Norton is the one credited with its discovery. In 1763 he performed one of the very first clinical trials, treating his parishioners with ague (chills and fevers) with willow bark. 65 years later the active chemical compound Salicin was isolated, taking its name from the Latin for willow - Salix.

A less well-known fact is that Meadowsweet was discovered in 1830, to have a very similar compound – salicylic acid.

Salicylic acid became widely used but had a long list of troublesome side effects. A safer drug was needed. This resulted in the German chemical firm, Bayer, producing acetylated salicylic acid in 1897. Searching for a name they looked to Meadowsweet, then known by its Latin name Spiraea, and choose ‘Aspirin’. ‘A’ for Acetylated, ‘SPIR’ for Spiraea and ‘IN’ a common drug suffix.

Aspirin’s popularity grew, but concern grew over its gastric side-effects. The introduction of safer drugs such as Paracetamol finally resulting in its decline. This might have left Aspirin as just as a footnote in medical history had it not been for the discovery in 1966, that Aspirin prolonged the bleeding time, and decreased the stickiness of platelets. A new use had now been found, from the late 1980s onwards it has been widely used to both treat and prevent heart disease and stroke.

If you are one of the many people taking Aspirin today in the UK, then you have Meadowsweet, this flower of high summer in part to thank.

www.wharfedale-nats.org.uk