Lemongrass – Melissa officinalis L.
Description of lemongrass:
Melissa officinalis
(Old or other familiar names: medical mead, bee balm, honey mead, lemon balm)
Occurrence
Medicinal properties
Active ingredient
Collection
Cultivation
Ajakosak – Labiatae
Lemongrass is a perennial plant with stems 30-90 cm tall, four-edged, densely branched. Leaves are opposite each other on the stem, long-stalked, ovate, with serrated edges. Leaves 4 cm long and 3 cm wide; leaf blade thin, wrinkled, with hairs only at the tip and veins on the backbone. Leaf and stem
light green in colour, with a strong, succulent fragrance. Flowers small, white, forming a lateral whorl in the axils of the leaves. Beeswax flowers from June to September.
Occurrence:
Lemon balm grows on rocky, wooded and scrubby hills and in castle ruins. It grows wild in the south of Hungary, e.g. in Baranya County and Banat, in Transylvania and Croatia (it is native to the Mediterranean coast). It is found only sporadically in the Felvidék, rather wild. As it is a sought-after commodity, it is cultivated in many places. Its cultivation is very worthwhile and successful. It grows in all kinds of soils, but it is most beautiful in dry, sunny, well-established soil. It can be sown from seed in thin rows, then thinned to 30 cm. Can also be planted. can stand in one place for 5-6 years and will give 3-4 cuts a year. After cutting it regenerates quickly, like alfalfa it can be moved to a new location after 5-6 years.
Medicinal properties and uses of lemongrass:
Lemongrass contains volatile oil, which gives it a pleasant smell, which bees like very much, so they rub it on the bees when catching a swarm to make it easier for the swarm to enter. The smell is slightly reminiscent of lemon, but bitter and spicy. The leaves, together with the weak stems, are used in medicine under the name folia melissae; they are used to make melissa oil and melissa spirit(oleum et spiritus melissae);the dried leaves are usedas a tea, which is used to make analgesic action on the reproductive organs. Also nerve-strengthening baths is also used in herbal mixtures, and is the main ingredient in Carmelite spirit and Carmelite water.
Active ingredient:
Essential oil, of which the leaf contains 0.015-o.25%, the herb containing even less essential oil.
Cultivation:
To grow lemongrass, a well-tilled, deep soil and a sunny spot are required, because essential oil develops best in such soil. It is propagated by sowing seeds, cuttings or division. The seeds are sown in garden beds in spring and the seedlings are planted out in the open ground at a distance of 50 cm between the rows. Seeds can also be sown in summer and planted out in autumn.To plant one acre of seedlings, 250 grams of seed or 30,000 seedlings are needed. Yield per cat. acre is 8-10 q (mazsa) of dry leaves.
Harvesting:
Lemon grass should be harvested at flowering or just before the flowers fully open. It is best to scarify the honeysuckle and then spread it out in the attic to dry. Cut only in dry weather, in the afternoon. Dry slowly, keeping out of the sun. Dry grass can be transported in bags.
Source:
Dr. Ferenc Darvas and Dr Gyula Magyary-Kossa,Domestic herbs, their production, marketing, effects and medicinal uses
Béla Páter, Wild medicinal plants, their production, use and distribution