Native & Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas & Georgia

Search by scientific name

OR search by...

3337

Forb
Perennial

Non-native: west Asia

Documented growing wild in - NC SC

Rare

Look for it in disturbed areas, per Weakley's Flora

map
To see a detailed map, click here

 

LEAVES:
Simple
Opposite
Petioles 1-4cm long
Margins crenate

FLOWER:
Summer
Pale blue, white
Bilaterally symmetrical
2-lipped 5-toothed calyx
2-lipped corolla, upper lip two-toothed, lower lip three-lobed
4 exserted stamens
Superior ovary

FRUIT:

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Lamiids: Lamiales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA (2/8/20):
 Melissa officinalis   FAMILY Lamiaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
 Melissa officinalis   FAMILY Lamiaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 164-26-001:
 Melissa officinalis   FAMILY Lamiaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933)
 Melissa officinalis

 

COMMON NAME:
 Lemon Balm

Click or hover over the thumbnails to see larger pictures.

image of Melissa officinalis, Lemon Balm

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913    pnd_meof2_001_lvd

        

image of Melissa officinalis, Lemon Balm

JK Marlow    jkm200804_6809

August    Spartanburg County    SC

In cultivation

Leaves are lemon-scented and ovate with scalloped margins, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains.

image of Melissa officinalis, Lemon Balm

JK Marlow    jkm200804_6810

August    Spartanburg County    SC

In cultivation

Flowers about 1/2 inch long with very short lips, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains.