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 | Balm Other Names: Sweet Balm. Lemon Balm
Botanical Name: Melissa officinalis (LINN.)
Family: N.O. Labiatae |
Description: |
The root-stock is short, the stem square and branching, grows 1 to 2 feet high, and has at each joint pairs of broadly ovate or heart-shaped, crenate or toothed leaves which emit a fragrant lemon odour when bruised. They also have a distinct lemon taste. The flowers, white or yellowish, are in loose, small bunches from the axils of the leaves and bloom from June to October. The plant dies down in winter, but the root is perennial.
The genus Melissa is widely diffused, having representatives in Europe, Middle Asia and North America. The name is from the Greek word signifying 'bee,' indicative of the attraction the flowers have for those insects, on account of the honey they produce.
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History: |
The word Balm is an abbreviation of Balsam, the chief of sweet-smelling oils. It is so called from its honeyed sweetness It was highly esteemed by Paracelsus, who believed it would completely revivify a man. It was formerly esteemed of great use in all complaints supposed to proceed from a disordered state of the nervous system. The London Dispensary (1696) says: 'An essence of Balm, given in Canary wine, every morning will renew youth, strengthen the brain, relieve languishing nature and prevent baldness.' John Evelyn wrote: 'Balm is sovereign for the brain, strengthening the memory and powerfully chasing away melancholy.' Balm steeped in wine we are told again, 'comforts the heart and driveth away melancholy and sadness.' Formerly a spirit of Balm, combined with lemon-peel, nutmeg and angelica root, enjoyed a great reputation under the name of Carmelite water, being deemed highly useful against nervous headache and neuralgic affections.
Many virtues were formerly ascribed to this plant. Gerard says: 'It is profitably planted where bees are kept. The hives of bees being rubbed with the leaves of bawme, causeth the bees to keep together, and causeth others to come with them.' And again quoting Pliny, 'When they are strayed away, they do find their way home by it.' Pliny says: 'It is of so great virtue that though it be but tied to his sword that hath given the wound it stauncheth the blood.' Gerard also tells us: 'The juice of Balm glueth together greene wounds,' and gives the opinion of Pliny and Dioscorides that 'Balm, being leaves steeped in wine, and the wine drunk, and the leaves applied externally, were considered to be a certain cure for the bites of venomous beasts and the stings of scorpions. It is now recognized as a scientific fact that the balsamic oils of aromatic plants make excellent surgical dressings: they give off ozone and thus exercise anti-putrescent effects. Being chemical hydrocarbons, they contain so little oxygen that in wounds dressed with the fixed balsamic herbal oils, the atomic germs of disease are starved out, and the resinous parts of these balsamic oils, as they dry upon the sore or wound, seal it up and effectually exclude all noxious air. |
Habitat: |
| A native of South Europe, especially in mountainous situations, but is naturalized in the south of England, and was introduced into our gardens at a very early period. |
Cultivation: |
| Balm grows freely in any soil and can be propagated by seeds, cuttings or division of roots in spring or autumn. If in autumn, preferably not later than October, so that the offsets may be established before the frosts come on. The roots may be divided into small pieces, with three or four buds to each, and planted 2 feet apart in ordinary garden soil. The only culture required is to keep them clean from weeds and to cut off the decayed stalks in autumn, and then to stir the ground between the roots.> |
Medicinal Usage: |
Carminative, diaphoretic and febrifuge. It induces a mild perspiration and makes a pleasant and cooling tea for feverish patients in cases of catarrh and influenza. To make the tea, pour 1 pint of boiling water upon 1 oz. of herb, infuse 15 minutes, allow to cool, then strain and drink freely. If sugar and a little lemonpeel or juice be added it makes a refreshing summer drink.
Balm is a useful herb, either alone or in combination with others. It is excellent in colds attended with fever, as it promotes perspiration .
Used with salt, it was formerly applied for the purpose of taking away wens, and had the reputation of cleansing sores and easing the pains of gout.
John Hussey, of Sydenham, who lived to the age of 116, breakfasted for fifty years on Balm tea sweetened with honey, and herb teas were the usual breakfasts of Llewelyn Prince of Glamorgan, who died in his 108th year. Carmelite water, of which Balm was the chief ingredient, was drunk daily by the Emperor Charles V.
Commercial oil of Balm is not a pure distillate, but is probably oil of Lemon distilled over Balm. The oil is used in perfumery.
Balm is frequently used as one of the ingredients of pot-pourri. Mrs. Bardswell, in The Herb Garden, mentions Balm as one of the bushy herbs that are invaluable for the permanence of their leaf-odours, which,
'though ready when sought, do not force themselves upon us, but have to be coaxed out by touching, bruising or pressing. Balm with its delicious lemon scent, is by common consent one of the most sweetly smelling of all the herbs in the garden. Balm-wine was made of it and a tea which is good for feverish colds. The fresh leaves make better tea than the dry.' |
Ancient Lore: |
BALM MELISSA OFFICINALIS
It is very good to help digestion and open obstructions of the brain, and hath so much purging quality in it (saith Avicen) as to expel those melancholy vapours from the spirits and blood which are in the heart and arteries, although it cannot do so in other parts of the body.
The herb is so well known as to be an inhabitant almost in every garden. It is also known as Sweet Balm or Lemon Balm. The leaves are set in pairs upon the stem, the flowers in whorls above each pair.
Where to find it. A garden plant, but its natural habitat is the rnountaineous regions in southern Europe. Flowering time: Midsummer to early autumn.
Astrology: It is an herb of Jupiter and under Cancer and strengthens the body in all its actions.
Medicinal virtues: Let a syrup made with the juice of it and sugar be kept in every gentlewoman's house to relieve the weak stomachs and sick bodies of their poor and sickly neighbours. Also keep the dried herb in the house so that with other convenient simples you may make it into an electuary with honey. The Arabian physicians have extolled the virtues thereof to the skies, although the Greeks thought it not worth mentioning. Seraphio saith, it causes the mind and heart to become merry and revives the heart, Paintings and swoonings, especially of such who are overtaken in sleep and driveth away all troublesome cares and thoughts out of the mind, arising from melancholy and black choler, which Avicen also confirmed.
Dioscorides saith that the leaves steeped in wine, and the wine drank, and the leaves externally applied, is a remedy against the sting of a scorpion, and the biting of mad dogs; and commended the decoction, for women to bathe or sit in to procure their courses. It is good to wash aching teeth therewith, and profitable for those that have the bloody flux. The leaves also, with a little nitre taken in drink, are good against the surfeit of mushrooms, and help the griping pains of the belly; and being made into an electuary, it is good for them that cannot fetch their breath.
Used with salt it takes away the wens, kernels or hard swellings in the flesh or throat. It cleanseth foul sores and easeth the pains of the gout. It is good for the liver and spleen. A tansy or caudle made with eggs and juice thereof, while it is young putting to some sugar and Rose-water, is good for woman in child-bed, when the afterbirth is not thoroughly voided, and for their faintings upon or in their sore travail. The herb bruised and boiled in a little white wine and oil, and laid warm on a boil, will ripen and break it.
Modern uses: It is commonly prescribed as an infusion to induce mild perspiration in feverish patients. It is also used in medicines for the menopause, and for painful or suppressed menstruation, poor digestion, nausea and vomiting. The infusion can he taken freely. |
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