Monarda didyma (bee balm)

I’ve been working on the Monarda page of my herbal notebook.

Names:  Monarda didyma, also known in various places as bee balm, bergamot, Oswego tea, scarlet bergamot, Indian plume, blue balm, high balm, low balm, mountain balm, mountain mint, horsemint and horsebalm.  In Europe bee balm has reportedly been called golden melissa and Indian nettle.  (Note that there are other herbs that bear some of these same common names, so don’t be confused.)  Though called horsemint in some sources, some sources link the name horsemint only to Monarda punctata (spotted horsemint).

The name Monarda is supposedly after the Spanish physician, Nicholas Monardes (1512-1588) who wrote the first herbal to appear in America:  Joyfull Newes Out of the Newe Founde Worlde, 1577. 

Parts Used:  Leaves, flowers.

Family:  Belongs to the mint family, Lamiaceae.

History:  When settlers arrived in North America, Native Americans had already been using bee balm for centuries as a medicinal and culinary herb.  Most sources report that it was the Oswego Indians of New York who introduced early settlers to bee balm as a refreshing drink, hence the name Oswego tea.  After the Boston Tea Pary, many rebellious American patriots replaced their boycotted tea with Oswego tea.   Other sources report that the plant was discovered growing in an area of New York named Otsego, the same rural county in which James Fenimore Cooper lived and wrote about Indians among other things.  Oswego tea supposedly also takes its name from the Oswego River near Lake Ontario.  In the late 1700s Shakers discovered bee balm’s value as a medicinal and culinary tea. 

Plant characteristics:  Perennial (though also referred to in some sources as biennial or annual).  Grows typically to 2-4 feet tall, but has been reported up to 6 feet tall.  The stem is quadrangular and hairy.  The leaves are opposite, ovate, and serrate, and are 3-6 inches long.  They are hairy underneath and feel somewhat rough.  Bee balm has shaggy, flaming-red flower heads.  The flowers are clustered in two or more tiers of whorls and sit atop a collar of beautiful, red-tinged bracts.  Bees and hummingbirds love bee balm (as if we couldn’t tell from the plant’s common name).  Bee balm flowers typically in July and August, though mine flowers here in North Carolina in June.

The leaves and flowers have a scent reminiscent of Bergamot orange whose oil is prized in perfumery.  Bee balm’s leaves are delicious in teas.  Leaves and flowers are good to cut up for salads, jellies, and fruit cups.  The flowers are pretty floating in a punch bowl.

Does not grow as well in hot climates.  Likes humus-rich, moist, slightly acid soil.  (2009 has been a beautiful year for my Monarda here in Piedmont North Carolina, because of all the rain and the mild temperatures this spring, I’m sure.)  Likes full sun to partial shade.  When cut nearly to the ground after spring blooming, bee balm may bloom again in early fall.  Prune nearly to the ground in fall.  In the wild, bee balm can be found in moist soil in thickets, woodlands, and stream banks.  Disease-wise, bee balm is prone to powdery mildew.

Propagation:  Can propagate from seed, but easiest to propagate from root cuttings or by separating plants in the spring. 

Distribution:  Bee balm is native to North America but was carried to Europe in the mid 1700s when seeds were being sent over by John Bartram of Philadelphia.  Bee balm is now widely cultivated across Europe.  In North America it can be found from Maine south to Georgia, and west to Michigan and Ontario.

Uses:  In modern times, bee balm is enjoyed mostly as a delicious tea; used as a carminative (infusion) to soothe nausea, vomiting and flatulence; infused as a tea for coughs and sore throat.   Treatment has been recommended as:  steep fresh or dried leaves or tops in boiling water.  Cool before drinking.  Drink 1-2 cups a day.   Some recommend drinking bee balm tea every day, it is so rich in antioxidants.

For my own personal use, I simply pick leaves from the plants in my own garden and put them in my infusions.  I don’t really grow enough bee balm to dry and store, though I’m thinking of growing more in the northwest portion of the yard.  I enjoy it fresh in season.  Bee balm can be tinctured.

Traditionally, bee balm has many reported uses depending upon source:  carminative, rubefacient, stimulant, diaphoretic; for nausea, vomiting, flatulence, menstrual cramps, sore eyes, sedative, sleep, colic, muscle spasms, diuretic, expectorant.

It has been used by many Native American Indians:  Oswego, Cherokee, Chippewa, Meskwaki, Sioux, Blackfeet, to name a few. 

Early settlers steamed the leaves and inhaled the fumes to clear sinuses.  A poultice of leaves has been made and applied for colds or for burns.  It has been used as a tea to treat measles,

Dried flowers and leaves are used in potpourri.

Scientifically:  The leaves and above-ground parts of bee balm contain thymol, a very powerful antibiotic/antifungal.  Thymol is used in commercially prepared mouthwashes.  Bee balm also contains carvacrol (may be useful in Alzheimer’s treatment) and other rich essential oils. 

Other Related Species:  Monarda austromontana, Monarda citriodora, Monarda fistulosa.

Disclaimer:  Information on the uses and properties of herbs is provided on this site for educational use only, and is not intended as medical advice. Please consult your healthcare practioner before self-treating with herbs. Make sure you have positively, 100% identified any herb before using.

At best, I feel this post is incomplete.  Plants are so rich in so many things vital to life.  They provide oxygen and are full of medicines and are good for food; I believe God put them here for us to enjoy and use with wisdom.  There’s so much more to know.