Lemon balm

Lemon balm or Melissa is originally the name of the bee in Greek, hence the inestimable value attributed to it by beekeepers. A perennial plant of the labiatae family, it is distinguished by its very aromatic smell which is quite similar to that of lemon and by its small whitish flowers. Native to the eastern half of the Mediterranean basin, cultivated throughout France, it is found in most gardens in the countryside and their surroundings. Cultivated from the earliest antiquity as a honey species, it slowly spread to Western and Central Europe. It was probably the Benedictine monks who introduced it north of the Alps.