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Dropwort
	Inflorescence
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Rosales
Family:	Rosaceae
Genus:	Filipendula
Species:	F. vulgaris
Binomial name
	Filipendula vulgaris; Moench
Synonyms
	List Filipendula filipendula (L.) Voss; Filipendula hexapetala Gilib.; Filipendula hexapetala Gilib. ex Maxim.; Filipendula pubescens (DC.) Fourr.; Filipendula vulgaris Hill; Spiraea filipendula L.; Spiraea gigantea Gand.; Spiraea noeana Gand.; Spiraea pubescens DC.; Spiraea tuberosa Salisb.; Spiraea vulgaris (Moench) Gray; Ulmaria filipendula (L.) A.Braun ex Asch.; Ulmaria filipendula (L.) Hill; Ulmaria filipendula (L.) Hill ex Focke; ;

Filipendula vulgaris, commonly known as dropwort or fern-leaf dropwort, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the family Rosaceae, closely related to meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria). It is found in dry pastures across much of Europe and central and northern Asia, mostly on lime.

The crushed leaves and roots have a scent of the oil of wintergreen (methyl salicylate).

Taxonomy and naming

The genus name Filipendula comes from Latin filum ("thread") and pendulus ("hanging") in reference to the root tubers that hang from the roots in some species. The specific epithet vulgaris means "common". The English name "dropwort" comes from the tubers that hang like drops from the root.

Description

It has finely-cut, fern-like radical leaves which form a basal rosette, and an erect stem 20–50 centimetres (8–20 in) tall^[2] bearing a loose terminal inflorescence of small creamy white flowers. The flowers appear in dense clusters from late spring to midsummer atop sparsely leafed stems about 30 cm tall.

This plant prefers full sun or partial shade. It is more tolerant of dry conditions than most other members of its genus. It is a perennial of chalk and limestone downs and on heaths on other basic rocks.

Cultivation

Propagation is by seed and the division of the creeping roots. The tuberous roots and young leaves can be cooked as a vegetable or eaten raw as a salad. The taste is bitter sweet. The mature leaves smell of oil of wintergreen when crushed, due to the release of methyl salicylate.^[3]

Habitat
Illustration showing tubers

References

^ The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species, retrieved 22 May 2016
^ C. A. Stace, Interactive Flora of the British Isles, a Digital Encyclopaedia: Filipendula vulgaris. ISBN 90-75000-69-3. (Online version) Archived 2011-06-08 at the Wayback Machine
^ Dropwort Wildflower finder UK, RW Darlington. Accessed July 2013