Purple Bee-balm... aka Wild Bergamot

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The summer months are upon us, bringing activities, cookouts, and summer flowers.
As you pay more attention to each season you will see the variety of wildflowers change with the weather. This is my favorite time to find and gather helpful herbs and berries directly from nature to use at home.

*Disclaimer: Always, always get a positive identification on any and all wild flower, herb, root, berry, etc you may gather from nature. If you are not sure, don't eat it, touch it, gather it; for many plants have similar subspecies that look very similar to their harmless counterparts but are deadly. 
Even plants that are harmless to one person may cause an allergic reaction to another so use caution. 

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Wild Bergamot - Purple Bee-Balm - Monarda fistulosa L.
This plant with its 'crazy hair' and tall stem is a favorite of bees and hummingbirds, but if we look further down the stem we'll find it has sets of paired leaves, a slight green/gray color... this is the part of the plant to gather. 
I say gather after everything has been taken into consideration... if this is a rare plant in your area, leave it alone, if it is a common one, gather responsibly - take only what you will use in the time it will be fresh. This is a potent plant so a little will go a long way! I list the Latin in the title of the plant to differentiate it from the Bee-Balm plant Monarda didyma which is red in color, still safe and can be used in the same manner, but it's good to be aware of the differences. 

Now then, you've found this interesting plant, it's in vast abundance locally, what now? 

Through the years it has been used for many purposes...

• The Tewa Indians because of the flavor it imparted cooked Wild bergamot with meat. 
• The Iroquois used the plant in the making of a beverage. The plant has a wide variety of medicinal uses. 
• The Ojibwe put a wad of chewed leaves of this plant into their nostrils to relieve headache. The tops of the plant were dried and used as a sternutatory for the relief of colds. The leaves were placed in warm water baths for babies. 
• The Flambeau Ojibwe gathered and dried the whole plant, boiling it in a vessel to obtain the volatile oil to inhale to cure catarrh and bronchial affections. 
• The Menomini also used this plant as a remedy for catarrh, steeping the leaves and inflorescences in a tea. 
• The Meskwaki used this plant in combination with other plants to relieve colds. 
• The Hocak (Winnebago) used wild bergamot in their sweat bath and inhaled the fumes to cure colds. A decoction of boiled leaves was used as a cure for eruptions on the face. 
• The Cherokee made a warm poultice of the plant to relieve a headache. 
• The Teton Dakota boiled together the leaves and flowers as a cure for abdominal pains. 
• The Blackfoot made a tea from the blossoms and leaves to cure stomach pains. They also applied boiled leaves to the pustules of acne. 
• The Tewa dried the plant and ground it into a powder that was rubbed over the head to cure headaches, over the body to cure fever, and as a remedy for sore eyes and colds. 
• Early white settlers used it as a diaphoretic and carminative, and occasionally employed it for the relief of flatulent colic, nausea and vomiting. 
  

Source - USDA Plant Guide

Depending upon the variety of wild bergamot, flavor varies. Those with high thymol content are used as a thyme substitute, but the Monardas do not have GRAS status (FDA generally recognized as safe). Pleasant teas are made from leaves or flowers. Current medicinal uses are much the same as historic applications. Wild bergamot is used for aromatherapy and fragrance, and flowers are included in fresh bouquets or dried for crafting.

Fun fact, Native American bergamot tea drinkers shared this delectable tea with colonial settlers, who then used it as a substitute when imported tea became scarce after the Boston tea party. 


Bergamot Tea
1/4 Cup of fresh Bergamot Leaves
1 Cup boiling water
or
2 Tablespoons of dried Bergamot Leaves
1 Cup boiling water

Pour water over tea leaves, let sit about 5 minutes before straining out leaves, 
add local honey or fresh lemon juice if desired, it is now ready to drink!