Hippocrates had recommended powdered willow bark for relief of pain and fever in the 4th century B.C. The active substance in willow (Salix species) can also be obtained from a few other plants. In Europe, a tea made from the dried flowers of European meadowsweet (Spiraea ulmaria) had been used to treat arthritis and other painful conditions. Salicin was extracted from the plant in the 1828, converted into salicylic acid and used to treat colds, malaria, and arthritis. Salicylic acid was anti-inflammatory, soothed pain, and reduced fever but was very irritating to the gastric lining. In 1853, a French chemist was the first to buffer the caustic effects of salicylic acid with sodium and acetyl chloride, producing acetyl-salicylic acid. A chemist at Friedrich Bayer & Co. in Germany came up with a new process for that acetylation that was patented in 1897. Bayer’s acetyl-salicylic acid was named Aspirin: “A” for acetyl, “spirin” for the European meadowsweet that was used as the source of salicin, honoring the plant’s scientific Genus name, which at the time was Spiraea. Bayer & Co. lost its trademark for Aspirin after World War I, but the company continued to advertise Bayer Aspirin as the only “genuine aspirin.” Another name for this plant is European Queen of the meadow. The Genus name now is Filipendula.

Part used::
Aerial parts

Origin:
Europe

Hull, Kathleen; Photog. Hull, Meredith /Indiana Medical History Museum: Guide to the Medicinal Plant Garden./ USA: Indiana Medical History Museum. 2010. -- p. 58.