‖ monarda
(məʊˈnɑːdə)
Also 8 monardus.
[mod.L. (Linnæus Hortus Cliffortianus (1737) 11), f. the name of Nicolas Monardes (1493–1588), Spanish physician and botanist, one of the earliest writers on American plants.]
An aromatic herb of the North American genus so called, belonging to the family Labiatæ, esp. Monarda didyma, which has bright red flowers and is also called bergamot, bee balm, or Oswego tea.
| 1712 tr. Pomet's Hist. Drugs I. 179 This was doubtless the gum Monardus us'd against the gout. 1789 W. Aiton Hortus Kewensis I. 36 Scarlet Monarda or Oswego-tea. 1865 Watts Dict. Chem. s.v., Oil of Monarda. The essential oil of an American Labiate plant, the Monarda punctata. It easily separates into a liquid oil and a camphor. 1931 M. Grieve Modern Herbal I. 95/1 Another American swamp plant... M[onarda] didyma, the Scarlet Monarda, is said to yield an oil of similar composition [to that of thymol]. 1970 C. Lloyd Well-Tempered Garden i. 45 For plants of an intricately branching habit like Aster acris, Salvia superba, or monardas, peasticks are ideal [support]. 1974 A. Scott-James Sissinghurst xiv. 149 A charming lilac-pink monarda called Beauty of Cobham. |