the story of Bergamot mirrors the tales of quite a few medicinal plants, and its twists and turns are symptomatic of some of the ways misinformation becomes entwined in the web of truth, story, history, legend and lies that surround some herbs. This is one of the things I love about them.
For the most potent of them, these storied webs serve to warn us off,
or to at least beg us pay attention.
One scientist friend of mine would do away with common names, and the confusion that they create in identifying things, but i can see that there are sometimes connections and subtle truths embedded there,
as when plants are named for their fragrance, like Bergamot,
Citrus bergamia, much prized as a perfume,
native to Asia, but now grown in Italy, Argentina, Brazil and the U.S. As early as 1725, there is mention made of its use for a fever outbreak in Calabria, Italy. No wonder. Inhaling it was said to counter urges and addictions, and it was used for anxiety,depression, stress and insomnia, and as a flavoring in French candy confections. (The French know how to deliver their medicines, eh?) Lots of specific information can be found in Tisserand, The Art of Aromatherapy, a classic.
This is the Bergamot of Earl Grey and Lady Grey Teas.
So, these are NOT the Begamots of America:
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| Monarda fistulosa, alias Sweet Leaf or BeeBalm |
Wild Bergamot, or Oswego Tea
Hot and pungent, the pale purple tops of this mint sway in the heat.
Matthew Wood, in The Earthwise Herbal, calls it a plant of many uses.
"Nervousness, Anxiety, people who have difficultuies with their passions, deep nervous disorders, tinnitus, Meniere's disease, bronchial asthma, nervous stomach, Gallstone colic, Diahhrea or constipation, UTI (Urinary tract infection), yeast nfection, fugus, herpes, leaky gut, burns and sunburn, cool, damp, clammy skin, and corpse sickness."
More information can be found at:
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| Monarda didyma var 'Jacob Cline' at Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve, New Hope, Pennsylvania. |
The brilliant red Monarda didyma is a popular native garden flower, and many spectacular cultivars have been produced from this hardy native. At my friend Penny's mountain retreat in central PA, it has lain dormant under a mat of Hay-scented fern, only to emerge when a path was mown through the sea of ferns last year. Now one lone red burst of color marks its survival --and a legion of babies coming on in the pathway bode well for the future of the patch.
Only later do we find that the previous owner's garden was, indeed, on this side of the house.
