Melissa
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Lemon balm ( Melissa officinalis ) |
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The lemon balm ( Melissa ) are a genus within the family of the mint (Lamiaceae). The four or so species are distributed from the Mediterranean to western Malesia . The best known species of this genus is lemon balm ( Melissa officinalis ).
The term "balm" is derived from the Greek word for honeybee (Melitta). Because bees are apparently attracted to the plant, lemon balm used to be planted in front of apiaries. The beehives themselves were also rubbed out with the sap, which was supposed to counteract the spread of diseases due to its antiseptic effect.
description
Vegetative characteristics
The lemon balm species are perennial , herbaceous plants .
The opposite arranged leaves are divided into a petiole and a leaf blade. The simple leaf blades are mostly egg-shaped with a serrated leaf margin. The green parts of the plant smell lemon-like when touched.
Generative characteristics
Few flowers in each case, grouped together in pseudo-whorls . The bracts are similar to foliage, but smaller. The cover sheets are tiny.
The hermaphrodite flowers are zygomorphic and five-fold with a double flower envelope . The five sepals are fused tubular to bell-shaped. The chalice hangs after the anthesis . The more or less hairy calyx has 13 nerves and is two-lipped with a flat, short three-toothed upper lip and a two-toothed lower lip. The white, yellowish-white to yellow, reddish or pale pink flower crowns are two-lipped. The corolla tube is curved upwards and flared above the middle. The throat has no hairline. The upper lip is erect or arched back, flat to slightly arched, outlined. The lower lip is three-lobed. Stamens and styles are longer than the corolla tube, therefore visible. There are four fertile stamens, two longer ones and two shorter ones, that tilt together. The stylus branches are approximately the same length and are bent back.
The smooth clauses are egg-shaped.
Systematics and distribution
The genus Melissa was established by Carl von Linné .
In the genus Melissa there are only four species that are common in Eurasia and North Africa:
- Melissa axillary (Benth.) Bakh. f. : It iswidespreadfrom Nepal to southern China and Malesia .
- Melissa Flava Benth. : It occurs in the Himalayas and Tibet .
- Lemon balm ( Melissa officinalis L. ): The two subspecies are distributed from Europe and North Africa through Southwest Asia to Central Asia.
- Melissa yunnanensis C.Y.Wu & YCHuang : It occurs in Tibet and Yunnan .
Use as a medicinal plant
See main article lemon balm ( Melissa officinalis ).
literature
- Siegmund Seybold (Ed.): Schmeil-Fitschen interactive . CD-ROM, version 1.1. Quelle & Meyer, Wiebelsheim 2002, ISBN 3-494-01327-6 .
- Xi-wen Li, Ian C. Hedge: Verbenaceae through Solanaceae . In: Wu Zheng-yi, Peter H.Raven (Ed.): Flora of China . Volume 17. Science Press and Missouri Botanical Garden Press, Beijing and St. Louis 1994, ISBN 0-915279-24-X , Melissa , p. 225 (English, the same text online as the printed work - sections description, distribution and systematics).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g Rafaël Govaerts (Ed.): Melissa. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved January 15, 2018.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Xi-wen Li, Ian C. Hedge: Verbenaceae through Solanaceae . In: Wu Zheng-yi, Peter H.Raven (Ed.): Flora of China . Volume 17. Science Press and Missouri Botanical Garden Press, Beijing and St. Louis 1994, ISBN 0-915279-24-X , Melissa , p. 225 (English, the same text online as the printed work - sections description, distribution and systematics).
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