Meadowsweet in Antiquity (Ancient Sources)

[EDIT] 10/29 – The Theophrastus passage was discovered and added to this post.

In this new series, we will explore herbal additives to ancient beers. First up: Meadowsweet. Nelson (2001, 138) identifies meadowsweet (Spiraea ulmaria L. or Filipendula ulmaria L. or Spiraea filipendula) with the Latin/Greek word oenanthe.

Pliny, Hist. Nat. 23.5.9
Omphacio cohaeret oenanthe, quam vites silvestres ferunt, dicta nobis in unguenti ratione. laudatissima in syria, maxime circa antiochiae et laodiceae montes et ex alba vite. refrigerat, astringit, vulneribus inspergitur, stomacho inlinitur, utilis urinae, iocineris, capitis doloribus, dysintericis, coeliacis, cholericis, contra fastidia obolo ex aceto pota. siccat manantes capitis eruptiones, efficacissima ad vitia, quae sint in umidis, ideo et oris ulceribus et verendis ac sedi cum melle et croco. alvum sistit, genarum scabritiem emendat oculorumque lacrimationes, ex vino stomachi dissolutionem, ex aqua frigida pota sanguinis excreationes.

Meadowsweet(?) comes after omphacium, which vines from the woods bear, and was spoken by us [before] in the discussion of unguents. It is most praised in Syria, from the white vine around the mountains of Antioch and Laodicea. It cools, is bitter, is poured on wounds, placed on the stomach, a diuretic, good for the liver, headaches, dysentery, celiac disease, cholera, and for nausea: a drink with an obol’s worth of vinegar. It dries up the flowing eruptions from the head, and it is most effective for defects, which are because of humidity [body composition, not weather]; for this reason, it is mixed with honey and saffron to address ulcers of the mouth and [to aid] the fundamental organs. It loosens the stomach, and heals the running of the eyes and maladies of the reproductive organs. Dissolved in wine it is good for the stomach; a drink from cold water it helps with the expelling of blood. 

Geoponica 5.51.2 [10th c. CE. Latin Translation – the original Greek is too faded to read]
Legenda est oenanthe ex vite vinum dulce ferente [. . .] Postea flori puro in dolium conjecto infundatur vini odorati et sapae aequalis mensura. Fricetur manibus diligenter, fiantque masse(?) et reponantur.

It has been read that wine mixed with meadowsweet(?) from the vine [. . .] Afterwards, with the clean flower thrown in, an equal measure of perfumed wine and new wine is poured . It is mixed thoroughly by hand, becomes a mass(?) and is stored.

[EDIT] Theophrastus, On Odors 6
ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν φύλλων οἷον τό τε μύρρινον καὶ τὸ οἰνάνθινον· αὕτη δ’ ἐν Κύπρῳ φύεται ὀρεινὴ καὶ πολύοδμος· ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς ἐν τῇ Ἑλλάδι οὐ γίνεται διὰ τὸ ἄοδμον.

[Perfume made] from these leaves which are the myrrh-perfume and meadowsweet(?) perfume: This grows on the hills of Cyprus and is very fragrant. That which is from Greece does not, because it is without fragrance. 

Background
These are two of the few sources that mention oenanthe – a Greek/Latin potential word for meadowsweet. However, it is unclear from the sources how these two words are associated. Still, the medicinal qualities that Pliny describes are in keeping with the description of meadowsweet in Buhner (1998, 322-323).

Commentary
In both passages we find meadowsweet added to wine to bring on good health. No mention of beer, though. We will review the archaeological evidence for meadowsweet as a beer additive in the upcoming weeks.

Upcoming Posts
Meadowsweet in Archaeology
HBW: Meadowsweet Beer

Image Source
Wikimedia Commons. Filipendula ulmaria (L.) Maxim., syn. Spiraea ulmaria L. Atlas des plantes de France. A. Masclef, 1891.

Bibliography
Buhner, S.H. 1998. Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers. The Secrets of Ancient Fermentation. Boulder, CO: Siris Books.
Nelson, M. 2001. “Beer in Greco-Roman Antiquity.” Ph.D. dissertation, U. British Columbia.

Geoponica Source
Geōponika [electronic resource]. Geoponicorum, sive de re rustica, libri XX. Cassiano Basso scholastico collectore. Published: Cantabrigiæ : typis academicis. Impensis A. & J. Churchill Londinensium, 1704. Description: [8],xxii,532p. ; 8⁰. Page 145.