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lemon verbena

 
Dictionary: lemon verbena
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n.
An aromatic shrub (Aloysia triphylla) native to Argentina and Chile, cultivated for its fragrant foliage and flowers.


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Food and Nutrition: lemon verbena
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South American herb, Lippia citriodora, used to flavour drinks and salads.

Food Lover's Companion: lemon verbena
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[ver-BEE-nuh] Native to South America, the long, slender leaves of this potent herb have an overpowering lemonlike flavor. For that reason, a light touch is necessary when adding lemon verbena (also called simply verbena) to food. It's available dried and sometimes fresh in specialty produce markets. It's used to flavor fruit salads and some sweet dishes, and for tea (tisane).

Wikipedia: Lemon verbena
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Lemon Verbena

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Verbenaceae
Genus: Aloysia
Species: A. citrodora
Binomial name
Aloysia citrodora
Paláu

Lemon verbena or Lemon beebrush, Aloysia triphylla[1]) is a deciduous perennial shrub native to Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, and Peru. This plant was brought to Europe by the Spanish in the 17th century.

Contents

Growth

It grows to a height of 3 to 7 metres and exudes a powerful lemony scent. It prefers full sun, a lot of water, and a light loam soil. It is sensitive to cold, losing leaves at temperatures below 0°C although the wood is hardy to -10°C. Lemon verbena, if covered with some straw, cut down and kept free from very moist conditions, will also withstand up to a -15°C frost and will make new leaves in spring. The light green leaves are lancet-shaped, and its tiny flowers bloom lavender or white in August or September.

Uses

Lemon verbena leaves are used to add a lemony flavor to fish and poultry dishes, vegetable marinades, salad dressings, jams, puddings, and beverages. It also is used to make herbal teas and can make a refreshing sorbet. In addition, it has anti-Candida albicans activity.[2]

Chemical constitutents

The major isolates in lemon verbena oil are citral (30-35%), nerol and geraniol.[3]

Synonyms

Synonyms for Lemon Verbena are Verbena triphylla L'Hér., Verbena citriodora Cav., Lippia triphylla, Lippia citriodora, and Aloysia citriodora (Cav.) Ort. Also referred to as "Louisa" or "Louiza" in Morocco.

References

Search Wikimedia Commons Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Aloysia triphylla
  1. ^ Armada, J. & A. Barra. 1992. On Aloysia Palau (Verbenaceae). Taxon 41:88–90.
  2. ^ "Anti-Candida activity of Brazilian medicinal plants" (abstract), TEIXEIRA DUARTE Marta Cristina et al., Journal of ethnopharmacology, 2005, vol. 97, no2, pp. 305-311
  3. ^ Lawless, J., The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Essential Oils, ISBN 1-85230-661-0
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Herbs and spices

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Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Food and Nutrition. A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2005 by A. E. Bender and D. A. Bender. All rights reserved.  Read more
Food Lover's Companion. Food Lover's Companion. Copyright © 2001 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Lemon verbena".  Read more