When I first decided to add a single lemon balm seedling to my already crowded kitchen herb garden, I had to admit it was with sudden impulse. To be honest, I wondered more than once if the home I had given my new friend would be sufficient in space and if it would impede the progress of its neighbors. As the growing season advanced I found the herb to be most cooperative. Now, as I take my tea to the garden each morning, I greet the plant with enthusiasm, gently brushing its dewy leaves to release its lemony scent. A happy gardener, and cook, my lemon balm has made.
Cultivated in the Mediterranean for more than 2,000 years, lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) has been making European and North American gardeners merry for an equally respectable length of time. Known as simply "balm" to many, this plant has earned a place in the medicinal, aromatic and culinary gardens of the world, and is a particular favorite in bee gardens. The Greeks called it "melisophyllon" from melissa, meaning "bee" and phyllon, denoting "leaf." The Romans referred to the plant as "apiastrum" from apias, to mean simply "bee." Sixteenth-century gardeners rubbed the leaves on beehives to promote the production of honey from within. Pliny wrote that bees have a distinct preference for lemon balm and, because they often colonized in its proximity, it was used to locate the hive.
The Greek physician Dioscorides recommended that the leaves be placed on insect as well as dog bites. Although this course of treatment was unlikely able to deter the onset of rabies, the plant does possess an antiviral quality and is often used to treat sores and lesions, including those induced by the Herpes Simplex virus.
Lemon balm has had a long reputation as a "rejuvenator." The Prince of Glamorgan (who lived to be 108), and King Charles V, drank a daily tea made from the herb. Homer made reference to the plant in the Odyssey and Culpeper praised its virtue as a sedative when he wrote that it "...driveth away all troublesome cares and thoughts out of the mind, arising from melancholy..."
The 17th century Carmelite nuns produced their famous Carmelite Water by combining lemon balm with lemon zest, angelica root, nutmeg and coriander. This formula was sold for hundreds of years under the name Eau de Me`lisse de Carmes and was used to treat various nervous disorders. It still appears in German shops as Klosterfqu Melissengeist. The extract of lemon balm is sometimes referred to as the "spirit" or "compound" of Melissa and is still listed in Germany's Pharmacopoeia. However, it has been largely displaced commercially by citronella oil (Cymbopogon nardus), a less expensive alternative with similar properties.
