Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) is a plant that grows in damp places, as seen here at Purwell Meadows in Hertfordshire. In fact the name is not a reference to where it grows. 

 Meadowsweet has an ancient history as a stewing herb and a flavouring for wines and beer. In Anglo-Saxon times it was called "medowyrt" after the Old English word "meodu" meaning mead. Chaucer mentions "medwort" in The Knight's Tale.

 Meadowsweet was also regarded as a medicinal plant. It contains salicylic acid which was synthesised in 1897 to make a new drug. At that time the Latin name for the species was Spiraea ulmaria from which the drug's brand name was derived: Aspirin.