Bee balm (Monarda didyma) is a native North American medicinal and aromatic herb belonging to the Lamiaceae (mint) family. This perennial plant, which typically grows in colonies, is indigenous to eastern North America, where it naturally occurs in bottomlands, thickets, moist woodlands, and along stream banks and is particularly well-suited to the riparian environments found along trails such as the GAP. The name has a dual meaning. The crushed leaves were traditionally applied as a balm to stings and minor skin irritations to soothe pain and reduce infections, and the flowers themselves are also highly attractive to bees and other pollinators.
The plant is also known as Oswego tea. The Oswego Native Americans around the Oswego River in upstate New York used an infusion of the flower and leaves to treat a variety of ailments, including coughs and colds, fever, abdominal pains, and flatulence, and in a poultice to treat sore eyes. They also used it in cooking to flavor game, especially birds, and drank infusions of the leaves as a beverage. Early European settlers learned this latter usage from them and after the Boston Tea Party, when imported tea was boycotted, adopted it as a local substitute, calling it “Oswego tea” (please keep in mind that the only true tea is made from the tea plant, Camellia sinensis). Bee balm is also known as bergamot, but it should not be confused with another plant known as wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa), which has lavender-colored flowers instead of the distinctive scarlet flowers of Monarda didyma.
Nor should bee balm, Oswego tea, or bergamot be confused with the bergamot citrus tree, a native of southern Italy. An essential oil from the peel of the fruit of the bergamot orange tree is used as a flavoring in the famous Earl Grey tea blend. The taste of bee balm, however, has an almost uncanny similarity to the taste of the bergamot orange, and thus the native American plant also became known as bergamot. The dried leaves of bee balm mixed with loose black tea will produce a brew that can be differentiated from Earl Grey tea only by the most dedicated tea cognoscenti. Infusions and tinctures of bee balm alone are used to treat indigestion and nausea, intestinal cramps, and diarrhea. Bee balm also serves as a nervine tonic and relaxant, exerting a calming effect on the nervous system without causing excessive sedation. The plant also has great aesthetic value, with its lovely scarlet flowers brilliantly festooning the edges of the GAP.
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