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     Queen~ of othe - meadows 
     
    
   
   
    
     BY MARGARET E. MALLETT 
     
    
   
   
    
     Driving through Mount Herbert on July let, 
     
    

    
     I turned onto theBethel Road (Route 215) and was 
     
     confronted by a ditchful of tall plants about 3 
     
     ft. or higher with reddish stalks, topped by 
     
     dense panicles of creamy white flowers whose de- 
     
     lightful fragrance filled the air. Had I looked 
     
     back across the Mount Herbert Road I could have 
     
     noticed that the head of Fullerton's Marsh had 
     
     great patches of the same flower. The plant must 
     
     therefore be tolerant of salty water. ' 
     
    

    
     Next day I took a specimen to Diane Griffin 
     
     of the Island Nature Trust, who recognized it as 
     
     "Queen-of—the-Meadow" (Filipendula Ulmaria). The 
     
     "Ulmaria" part comes from a fancied resemblance 
     
     of the leaflets to leaves of the Elm (Ulmus) tree. 
     
    

    
     A hardy herbaceous perennial introduced from 
     
     Europe, Queen-of-the-Meadow is a garden escape 
     
     and is found from Newfoundland to Ontario, and in 
     
     the Northeastern UnitedStates. Oil of meadowsweet 
     
     is distilled from the flower buds and used in per- 
     
     fumery. The leaves of Queen-of-the-Meadow are 
     
     canescent - tomentose beneath. Terminal leaflets 
     
     are palmately lobed; all leaves are serrate. 
     
    

    
     Filipendula Ulmaria Queen-of—the-Meadow is probably not found in' 
     
     ' x% a great many localities on Prince Edward Island, 
     
     but where it gets a foothold in suitable habitat it grows in profusion. 
     
     A damp ditch appears to be perfect—habitat. 
     
    

    
     It was probably in flower in mid-July. At the end of August there 
     
     were still a few blooms and an abundance of odd-looking little green 
     
     fruit, each of which is formed of five to seven crescent-shaped indehiscent 
     
     (not opening or splitting) carpels united into one small roundish object. 
     
    

    
     When the fruit has dried, slight finger pressure will cause it to 
     
     separate into its 5, 6 or 7 carpels, each of which in suitable habitat 
     
     may produce a new Filipendula Ulmaria plant. 
     
    

    
     Some books give "Meadowsweet" as an alternate name of "Queen-of-the- 
     
    
   
   
    
     Meadow". However, the Meadowsweet that we see more often is "Spiraea 
     
     Latifolia". 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     Queen—of-the-Meadow 
     
    
   
   
    
     Natural History Soda?) news 
     
    
   
   
    
     About 40 people attended the October 4 meeting of the Natural 
     
     History Society, and memmbers managed to combine a lot of business with 
     
     a pleasurable talk and slide show on nature conservation. 
     
    

    
     Bruce Smith of the Nature Trust gave a report on the Greenwich 
     
     hearings before the Land Use Commission, which will resume in December. 
     
     Your support for this issue, whether in the form of donations to help 
     
     offset the Nature Trust expenses or letters to the editor of Island 
     
     papers are still welcome and necessary. 
     
    

    
     Plans are underway for the Canadian Nature Federation's annual 
     
     meeting, this year to be held in June in Charlottetown. "Century of Change 
     
    
   
   
    
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