Spontaneous lemon balm, the relaxing plant that grows in the meadows

Melissa grows spontaneously throughout Italy and in abundance in mid-mountain areas. It is an important plant medicinal properties and is easily recognized also thanks to the pleasant citrus smell which emanates. In many Italian dialects it is known, in fact, also by the name of cedronella or cedroncella, lemon grass, citrate grass or limoncella. So let’s see how spontaneous lemon balm is recognized, where it is found and what it is good for.

How to recognize the spontaneous lemon balm

Melissa, scientific name Melissa officinalisis a plant that grows spontaneously in western Asia and in the areas of Mediterranean basin. It belongs to the Lamiaceae family, the same as peppermint and sage, and like all Lamiaceae it has a strong aromatic scent.

It is a perennial, herbaceous and bushy plant. The stems grow erect. The leaves are opposite, petiolate and heart-shaped. They are dark green on the upper page, lighter on the underside. I am wrinkled and with jagged edgesslightly hairy on the upper page.

The flowers are white, turning pink towards maturity. Flowering begins in May and lasts until August.

Properties of the lemon balm plant

Melissa knows a long tradition of use as medicinal plant. The drug is extracted from the leaves, which are rich in essential oils, rosmarinic acid and flavonoids.

Note for his calming and antispasmodic properties, was used as a real one natural sedative to treat stress, anxiety and insomnia problems. “Disposes the mind and heart to happiness and soothes the troubles that arise from melancholy” can be read in an ancient French herbarium from the 1600s.

To these, add the property carminative, antioxidants e antivirals of the spontaneous lemon balm.

What is lemon balm good for?

Melissa is useful to contrast states of anxiety and stress together with visceral somatizations. It has a sedative action on the central nervous system and is therefore suitable for treating gastritisnausea, irritable boweltachycardias and tremors.

Thanks to rosemary oil and flavonoids, natural antioxidants, it is also effective against oxidative stress damage to cells.

At the end. Melissa is considered a resistant plant because it is hardly attacked by parasites. Indeed it is excellent natural remedy against mosquitoes due to its citrus scent.