The Buzz on Bergamot

Today's post is about bergamot - a lovely, lavender wildflower - also known as bee balm.  It grows along wood lines and in abandoned meadows in large groupings, growing to 4 1/2 feet or taller.  It has many medicinal uses.

The name "bergamot" is an unusual name, and led me on a merry chase back as far as 550 B.C. to ferret out its etymology.

This native wildflower is a member of the mint family, and has a lovely and unique fragrance.  The fragrance reminded its namers of the similar smell of a completely unrelated plant - the bergamot orange.  And so our story begins.

The bergamot orange grows chiefly in southern Italy.  The fruit is the size of an orange, but it is greenish-yellow in color.  It has a bitter taste, so people don't generally eat it outright or juice it.  However, it is grown for its essential oils.  The unique aroma is, according to Wikipedia, evident in Earl Grey tea - much-loved by the famed Captain Jean-Luc Picard, of the starship Enterprise.

Back to my main theme.  The bergamot orange takes its name from the town of Bergamo, Italy, where - presumably - many of these oranges grow.

So how did the town of Bergamo get its name?  Let me tell you.  Bergamo comes from the Roman name of Bergomum.  And before it was latinized as Bergomum, it was called Berghem by the ancient celts who settled there.

And Berghem?  Berghem comes from the Old English (and prior to that the Proto-Germanic) "berg", meaning "mountain", and "hem" meaning "dwelling place".  Thus we have the origin for the name of this wildflower that grows innocuously on the Illinois savannas.  Who knew that such a little flower could have such a loaded name?