What is Lemon Balm?
Lemon balm is a low-growing perennial herb with rounded, heart-shaped leaves that emit a lemon odor when bruised. The small yellow or white flowers are attractive to bees and other insects. It is indigenous to the Mediterranean region and western Asia, and widely naturalized in Europe, Asia, and North America. The leaves are harvested before flowering and used medicinally.
An herb is a plant whose leaves, seeds, or flowers are used for flavoring food or in medicine. Other uses of herbs include cosmetics, dyes, and perfumes. The name derives from the Latin word herba, meaning “green crops.” Lemon balm – carrying the botanical name Melissa officinalis and commonly known as balm, sweet balm, heart’s delight, and Melissa – is a perennial in the mint family. It is said to be native to the Near East and the Mediterranean, but cultivated far more widely. Although lemon balm is sometimes called “bee balm,” it is useful to reserve the name bee balm for Monarda didyma in order to be able to distinguish between these two plants. The confusion may arise because Melissa means “bee” in Greek. History. Praised in many traditions – by the Muslim herbalist Avicenna and the Swiss-German physician Paracelsus, for example, and used in Tibetan medicine for thousands of years – lemon balm was recognized as a useful remedy from late medieval times. Lemon balm was an ingredient
