ABSTRACT
Bergamot is native to the eastern United States from Michigan and New York in the north to Georgia and Tennessee in the south. Lemon bergamot is an annual herb, 30–100 cm tall, with white, purplish, or pink and purple-dotted flowers in pagoda-like whorls. Wild bergamot is a perennial herb 30–120 cm high, growing from creeping rhizomes. The taste of lemon bergamot is indeed lemony, although some find the aroma to be reminiscent of thyme. The twigs of wild bergamot can be used as a potherb, cooked with other foods such as meats, or dried for future use. The culinary significance of bergamot species is very limited, and the plants are only occasionally grown commercially as food plants, primarily for incorporation into tea mixtures. Bergamot oil production has also been limited and sporadic in recent decades.
