Plant Study
I enjoy plants, I actually have my own garden and for those of you who live on campus know where to find my place. I have basil, pineapple sage, lemon balm, regular sage, thyme, lemon thyme, rosemary and lavendar. Each has its own properties that are healling for the body but what most people don't realize is that these kind of plants also have magical properties as well as for flavoring your food.
Common Name: Lemon Balm
Family Name: English
Family Name: Lamiaceae/Labiatae
Latin Name: Melissa Officinalis
Common Names:
Native American Names
Related Species: mint
Body System Affiliations:
- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (whole body)
- Cold and Flu (whole body)
- Ear Infections (ear)
- Insomnia (whole body)
- Nausea (stomach)
- Shingles (mostly arms and legs)
Botanical Description:
Lemon Balm is bushy, somewhat weedy-looking herbal plant
Extra details: spreads need tidying
Flower: creamy-white
Foliage: light green, wrinkled, and very fragrant
Type: perennial
Height and spread: 24-36 x 16-24 inches
Ecology:
Habitat: warm not too dry, poor soil, can grow in full sun or some shade
Range: From Southern Europe to the Northern Zones
Native Where: Native to southern Europe: Mediterranean region; central
Europe; introduced and widespread in northern temperate zones (HE page 222)
Ecological Relationships:
Places/Dates Observed/Description:
Propagation:
Technique: Seed, Cutting, and Division
Timing: Seed in the Spring, Stem cutting Spring and Summer, and Division in
Spring or Autumn
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Harvest:
Plant Parts: Leaves
Season of Harvest: Summer and Autumn
Method of Harvest: Cut or trim
Ecological Considerations of Harvest: Take no more than 10 percent of the
plant or plants
Cultural Considerations of Harvest:
Cautions: Make sure that plants have never been sprayed with any chemicals and
be sure what the plant is before harvesting.(HD page 42)
Indigenous and Non-Western Use/Significance/Relationships:
Food:
Materials/Technology:
Medicine:
Indigenous Group:
Part Used: leaves
Medicinal Actions: Carminative; diaphoretic; antispasmodic; sedative
Indications: fevers aches and pain
Body System Associations: stomach, head, and restlessness
Energetics:
Harvest: late summer and fall
Storage: dry place in jar or container and place in dry area
Preparation: tea
Applications: drink as a tea
Pharmacy:
Cautions: only toxic if use oil
Western (European-American) Uses/Relationships
Food: Condiments, eggs, fish, marinades, pickles, salad dressing, tea,
vinegars(HE page 82)
Materials/Technology:
Medicine:
Part Used: leaves
Medicinal Actions: Carminative; diaphoretic; antispasmodic; sedative
Indications: fevers aches and pain
Body System Associations: stomach, head, and restlessness
Constituent:
Harvest: late summer and fall
Storage: dry place in jar or container and place in dry area
Preparation: tea
Applications: drink as a tea
Pharmacy:
Cautions:
Essential Oil Information:
Essence Oils:
Medicinal Actions:
Indications:
Aromatherapy:
Cautions:
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Personal Experience:
Food: Condiments, eggs, fish, marinades, pickles, salad dressing, tea, vinegars
(HE page 82)
Materials/Technology:
Medicine:
Part Used: Leaf
Medicinal Actions:
Indications: fevers aches pains
Body System Associations: cold/flu/ nausea
Constituent:
Harvest:
Site Location: Personal Garden
Site Description: Container Gardening in Dorm housing
Technique: cut/trim branches off
Processing: smashed and tore the leaves
Storage: dry in a jar
Experience:
Application/Preparation/Pharmacy:
Application: I made a tea
Preparation: I trimmed my plant crushed the leaves and mixed
them with my Huckleberry tea mixture
Pharmacy: used several leaves in tea brew
Reason/Purpose: it was made to help fight cold and flu symptom
Experience: It actually helped combat the symptoms of the flu
Cautions based on experience:
References Used
- The Herbal Drugstore, the best natural alternatives to over-the –counter and
prescription medicines, by Linda B. White, M.D., and Steven Foster @ by
Rodale Inc. 2000
This book is a wonderful resource for medicinal remedies and for regular
medicines, it give a description of what the problem is and the does a comparative
between the two and then gives the herbal remedies and how to prepare them.
- The Encyclopedia of Herbs and Herbalism Edited by Malcolm Stuart, published by Crescent Books
This book even has the human body in it to see where and how herbs can help the body. It even has how lay out your herbal garden to get the most out of it.
Mylee Ring
Herb Study (Lemon Balm)
A.E. & C. Walking the Wheel of the Season
