Melissa
(from melissa, a bee; bees are said to gather honey from these plants). Balm. ORD. Labiatae. A genus containing three or four species of hardy herbaceous perennials, or very rarely under-shrubs, natives of Central and Western Asia. Flowers white or yellowish, variously disposed, racemose or whorled. For culture, see Balm.
M. officinalis (officinal). Common Balm. fl. white or pale yellow; cymes distinct, three to six-flowered; whorls distant. June to October. l. broad-ovate, crenated, truncate at the base, or cordate. Stem herbaceous, erect, branched. h. 2ft. to 4ft. Central and South Europe (Britain), naturalised in West Asia. (Sy. En. B. 1053.) A variegated form is sometimes seen in cultivation, and forms a very pretty edging plant in almost any soil; it is, moreover, very fragrant.