Lemon Balm

Genus: Melissa officinalis
Family: Labiatae

Intro History

Brush this herb’s leaves and your fingers will smell of lemon and a hint of mint, a fragrance that has endeared lemon balm to people for at least 2,000 years. This rather floppy, coarse-leaved plant has a history with an elegance you would expect of a more refined looking ornamental.

Lemon Balm, often referred to simply as Balm, may be one of the plants mentioned in Homer’s Odyssey . The Roman scholar Pliny noted that bees preferred lemon balm to other plants. The Greek physician Dioscorides put the plant on bites, both scorpion and dog, and then would drop some more lemon balm into wine for the patient to drink. His pages may have been so full of bite remedies because none of them worked terribly well and herbalist kept experimenting. But in the days before antivenom and rabies shots, a comforting drink was about the best anyone could offer. The Greeks and the Romans seem to have been fond of the plant but its real fans were the Arabs. They held that lemon balm was good for heart disorders as well as for lifting the spirits.

Lemon balm helped colonize the United States, no doubt lifting the spirits dragged down by the strange climate, isolation, and distance from home. It was both medicine and flavoring. Old Williamsburg recipes called for it, and Thomas Jefferson grew it at Monticello. Lemon balm continued to be used as a medicine well into the nineteenth century. In the American edition of Pereiara’s Materia Medica , balm tea is noted for inducing sweating in fevers and regulating menstruation. However the entry shows the signs of an herbal remedy on its way out: “The effect of balm are similar to, though milder then, those of the labiate (mint family) plants already described. The mildness of its operations arises from the small portion of volatile oil which the plant contains.“

Still, lemon balm, a member of the mint family, has long been considered a "calming" herb. It has been used since the Middle Ages to reduce stress and anxiety, promote sleep, improve appetite, and ease pain and discomfort associated with digestion (including flatulence and bloating as well as colic). Even before the Middle Ages, lemon balm was steeped in wine to lift the spirits, help heal wounds, and treat venomous insect bites and stings. Today, lemon balm is often combined with other calming, soothing herbs such as valerian, to enhance the overall relaxing effect.

Special Features and Uses

Medicinal: Lemon balm was used like a mild form of Valium in past centuries. As the British herbalist Nicholas Culpepper put it in the mid-seventeenth century, “lemon balm causeth the mind and heart to become merry, and driveth away all troublesome cares and thoughts out of the mind, arising from melancholy and black choler.” We could attribute this to the pleasant lemony fragrance, which is cheery enough by itself. But a study shows that the herb has a sedative effect on the central nervous systems of lab rats. The oil of lemon balm also seems to inhibit bacteria and viruses. So, could it have done something to reduce the chance of infection when Dioscorides applied it to mad dog bites and scorpion stings? Or when Culpepper used it to cleanse “foul sores?”

Insomnia and anxiety

Several studies have found that lemon balm combined with other calming herbs (such as valerian) helps reduce anxiety and promote sleep. Few studies have investigated the safety and effectiveness of oral lemon balm alone, however. For example, in one recent study of people with minor sleep disorders, those who ingested an herbal combination of valerian and lemon balm reported sleeping much better than those who ingested placebo pills. It is not clear from these studies, however, whether lemon balm itself (or the combined action of lemon balm and valerian) is responsible for these sleep-inducing effects.

Herpes

Some studies suggest that topical ointments containing lemon balm may help heal lip sores associated with herpes simplex virus (HSV). In one study of 116 people with HSV, those who applied lemon balm cream to their lip sores experienced significant improvement in redness and swelling after only two days. Although other symptoms (such as pain and scabbing) did not improve, both the patients and their physicians reported that the lemon balm ointment was highly effective. Several animal studies also support the value of topical lemon balm for herpes lesions.

Other

Although few rigorous scientific studies have been conducted on lemon balm, many professional herbalists suggest that this herb is beneficial for a variety of health problems including Alzheimer's disease, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), indigestion, insomnia, and hyperthyroidism. Experimental laboratory studies also suggest that lemon balm has antioxidant and anti-HIV properties, but further studies are needed to confirm these findings.

Culinary

Lemon balm’s character can be described as lightly lemon with a suggestion of mint. The leaves are best used fresh in cooking, but the leaves and stems can be dried and used for tea. Lemon balm, either whole or chopped can be added to many meats, vegetables and fruits, and is an ingredient of the liqueurs Benedictine and Chartreuse.

Available Commercially

Dried as tea.

Substitute

Fresh lemon thyme or lemon verbena. Note that lemon verbena is stronger then lemon balm, so when substituting use less verbena.

Aromatic

As heavenly as lemon balm may smell, its oil is rarely used in commercial perfumery because a lemon scent is easier and cheaper to synthesize . If you want to dry the plant for potpourris, you can harvest it at its most potent in late summer. The lower parts are richest in essential oils.

Ornamental

The common variety of lemon balm looks somewhat rank and weedy, a mass of coarse green leaves. It is rarely found outside herb gardens. For more formal settings try using a variety with variegated leaves as a border plant.

Cosmetic

Lemon balm reportedly cleanses the skin. Steamy lemon facials are recommended for persons with acne. You might want to add the leaves to a cleansing herb bath mixture too.

Other

Lemon balm has been put to a lot of uses over the years; some more practical then others. A 1892 recipe says that lemon balm wine improves with age and is better the second year. Beekeepers once rubbed lemon balm inside a hive to encourage a new swarm to stay.

NOTE: The Latin name Melissa comes from the Greek word for “bees.” Two thousand years ago Pliny noted that bees liked lemon balm more then any other herb because they use it to get their bearings and find the hive.

Language of Flowers

Lemon balm was a symbolic plant used to transmit messages between lovers. It also signified sympathy, perhaps because an extract was used to make soothing medicines.

Furniture polish

For a natural equivalent of lemon scented furniture polish, rub lemon balm into wood. The plant’s oils work like the oily polishes, and the furniture will take on a lemony smell.

Insect Repellent

Although the flowers attract honeybees, the plant is reputed to repel certain insects. You can try rubbing down a kitchen table to keep bugs away from the food, or tossing lemon balm into a fire so bugs won’t bother the people gathered around it.

Hardiness

Perennial. Zones 4 to 9.

Growth Habit

This upright plant has hairy, square, branched stems. The somewhat hairy, lemon-scented leaves are opposite, ovate, toothed, and 1 to 3 inches long. The leaves are very deeply wrinkled and range from dark green to yellowish green in color, depending on the soil and climate.

The plant grows up to two feet in height, sometimes higher if not maintained, and two feet wide.

Bloom Time

In the summer, usually July thru September, clusters of small, light yellow or rose flowers grow where the leaves meet the stem . The flowers are about 1/2 inch long and two-lipped on axillary clusters. The fruit is a smooth nutlet.

Propagation

Lemon balm grows easily from seed and germinates better if the seeds are not covered. Take care to keep them from drying out. Plants can also be grown by layering, by division in the spring or fall , or by cutting taken in the spring or summer.

Transplanting

Lemon balm will transplant well if done when plant is small and root system is not disturbed. Best to thin seedlings to 2 feet apart to avoid transplanting.

Soil

Moist, humus-rich, well-drained soil with a pH of 7.0

Sunlight

The plant grows best in full sunlight, but will tolerate shade.

Pests and Diseases

Powdery mildew.

Harvesting and Storage

Harvesting lemon balm should be done before it flowers for optimum fragrance since a good deal of its aroma will be lost in even the most careful drying. To harvest cut off the entire plant 2" above the ground. Try to avoid bruising the leaves. Lemon balm should be carefully dried within 2 days of picking, for it has a tendency to turn black unless it is dried quickly. Do not harvest if dry, sunny weather is not predicted for several days. Drying is done best in the shade at temperatures between 90° and 110°. It is best to use trays or sieves for drying the herb rather then tying it in bunches on a string. If you plan on using your lemon balm for tea, dry both the stem and the leaves.

Other Species and Cultivars

Aurea Also listed as ‘Variegata,’ has green leaves splashed with gold.

Allgold has bright yellow foliage; grown in light shade as full sun may scorch the leaves.

Another lemon-flavored herb in the mint family is Vietnamese balm, Elsholtzia ciliata. It is an annual that grows 3' tall . It has a flavor similar to lemon balm but with more of a minty taste. It can also withstand cooking better.

References

Culinary Herbs by Maggie Oster
A National Home Gardening Club book

Rodale’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs
by Claire Kowalchik and William H. Hylton (Editors)

University of Maryland Medical Center [1]

North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service [2]