CSIR CIMAP AROMA | Plant Details

Plant Details

:Common Name

Crimson beebalm, Scarlet beebalm

:Scientific Name

Monarda didyma

:Introduction

Monarda didyma (crimson beebalm, scarlet beebalm, scarlet monarda, Oswego tea, or bergamot) is an aromatic herb in the family Lamiaceae, native to eastern North America from Maine west to Ontario and Minnesota, and south to northern Georgia. Its odor is considered similar to that of the bergamot orange (the source of bergamot oil used to flavor Earl Grey tea). The scientific name comes from Nicolas Monardes, who described the first American flora in 1569

: Details

This hardy perennial plant grows to 0.7-1.5 m in height, with the stems square in cross-section. The leaves are opposite on the square stems, 6–15 cm long and 3–8 cm broad, and dark green with reddish leaf veins and a coarsely-toothed margin; they are glabrous or sparsely pubescent above, with spreading hairs below. It has ragged, bright red tubular flowers 3–4 cm long, borne on showy heads of about 30 together, with reddish bracts. It grows in dense clusters along stream banks, thickets and ditches, flowering from mid- to late summer