lemon balm: see bee balm.

lemon, one of the citrus fruits, from a tree (Citrus limon) of the family Rutaceae (orange family), probably native to India. A small tree (to about 15 ft/5 m tall) with thorny branches and purple-edged white blossoms, it requires a mild, equable climate. The European crop is centered on the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean. In the United States, lemons are grown chiefly in S California, Arizona, and Florida. The trees are prolific, and under ideal conditions can produce ripe fruit practically all the year. In the United States the fruit is cut from the tree while green, at a standard size, and the good lemons are placed in cool, dark rooms to ripen slowly; the skin grows yellow, thin, and pliable, and the quality of the fruit is similar to when ripened on the tree. The imperfect fruit is manufactured into lemon oil, lemon juice, citric acid, pectin, and other useful products. There are seedless varieties. The sweeter Meyer lemon is lemon crossed with either a mandarin or an orange, and the Ponderosa lemon is a lemon-citron hybrid that has grapefruit-sized fruits. Lemons have better preservative qualities than other citrus fruits and are thus more easily transported. The fruit is high in vitamin content (especially in ascorbic acid, or vitamin C) and has long been known as a preventive of scurvy. Lemons have a refreshing, acid flavor; they are used in summer drinks, such as lemonade and punch, and are often preferred to vinegar as an ingredient in sauces and salad dressings. Lemon juice is the main source of citric acid. Lemon oil, or the essential oil extracted from the skin, usually while green, is manufactured mostly in Italy and France. It is used in the making of lemon extract, perfumes and cosmetics, and furniture polish. Lemon is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Sapindales, family Rutaceae.

Lemon, Mark, 1809-70, English editor and humorist. He was a founder of Punch in 1841 and one of its first editors. Besides contributing to periodicals, he wrote more than 60 plays, none of them memorable.

Lemon Grove, uninc. town (1990 pop. 23,984), San Diego co., S Calif. Primarily residential, there is also agriculture and the manufacture of wire products, motor vehicle parts, and bricks.

Lander, Richard Lemon, 1804-34, English explorer. He accompanied Clapperton to the Niger River in 1827 and brought back Clapperton's journal, which was published (1829) with an account of Lander's return to the coast. Accompanied by his brother John Lander (1807-39), he led an expedition (1830-31) to determine the course of the lower Niger and discovered that the river emptied into the Bight of Benin. The brothers published their combined journals (3 vol., 1832). Richard Lander died of wounds received on a trading expedition to the Niger (1832-34); an account of the trip was published by survivors, Macgregor Laird and R. A. K. Oldfield.

Any of 12 North American annual or perennial plants in the genus Monarda, variously known as bergamot, horsemint, and bee balm. They belong to the mint family and have showy flowers. Wild bergamot (M. fistulosa) has a minty aroma. The more sharply scented Oswego tea (M. didyma; a bergamot variety) is native to eastern North America but is widely cultivated elsewhere.

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Any of several fragrant herbs of the mint family, particularly Melissa officinalis (balm gentle, or lemon balm), cultivated in temperate climates for its fragrant leaves, which are used as a scent in perfumes and as a flavouring. The name is also applied to Melittis melissophyllum (bastard balm), Monarda didyma (bergamot, or bee balm), Collinsonia canadensis (horse balm), Glecoma hederacea and Satureja (Calamintha) nepeta (field balm), and Molucella laevis (Molucca balm, or bells of Ireland), as well as to aromatic substances from species of Commiphora (trees and shrubs of the incense-tree family).

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Small thorny tree or spreading bush (Citrus limon) of the rue (or citrus) family and its edible fruit. Under the yellow outer rind or peel is the white, spongy inner peel, the source of commercial pectin. The juicy pulp is acidic and rich in vitamin C and contains smaller amounts of B vitamins. The climates of coastal Italy and California are especially favourable for the cultivation of lemon trees, which in these regions produce fruit 6–10 times a year. Lemon juice enhances many dishes, and lemonade is a popular warm-weather beverage. Lemon by-products are used in beverages (citric acid), fruit jellies (pectin), and furniture polish (lemon oil).

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