Lemon balm
Melissa officinalis
Family · Lamiaceae · Harmless
The leaf that smells of lemon when rubbed. It escaped from gardens into shady verges and old walls, and is the best-known end-of-day infusion in Portugal.
Roadsides and waste ground · Walls and rocks · Oak woods · Town and roadside
Also known asbalm, bee balm
How to tell it
A heart-shaped, wrinkled, pale green leaf with strong veins. Rub and smell: it is lemon, unmistakably. Prefers shade and some moisture.
What it is confused with
White dead-nettle
Lamium album
From a distance the leaves are similar and both are harmless mints. Lemon balm smells of lemon when rubbed; white dead-nettle smells of nothing.
What it is for
A traditional evening infusion across Europe. Bees seek it out so much that the genus name, Melissa, means bee in Greek.
Traditionally used as food. This is not permission to eat it.
With documented traditional uses. Not a therapeutic indication and not a dose.