Yesterday’s ITRP focused on the Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds in our Bee Balm. Today, we’ll focus on the Bee Balm, itself, based on some quick research.
The common name of the plant is a misnomer; the plant is not a balm that calms the many pollinaters it attracts; it frenzies them – especially bees of all sorts, hummingbird moths, and hummingbirds. Here, you see what appear to be two American Bumblebees (Bombus pennsylvanicus) approaching the plant yesterday:
Here, a Clear-Winged Hummingbird Moth (Hemaris thysbe) buries its face in one of the plant spikes yesterday:
The scientific binomial for the plant is Monarda didyma, the first part (its mint plant genus) is named after the 16th Century Spanish botanist Nicolás Monardes. The second part is derived from the Greek words for twin temples or temples of the twins (usually referring to the god Apollo and goddess Artemis). Many of the flowering heads of the plant do seem to be divided in two:
The plant leaves were used by Native Americans for medicinal purposes and its flowers were steeped by them as tea. When English tea was boycotted by Colonists, many Bostonians switched to this Native American tea, which they called Oswego Tea.
(Brooklin, Maine)