LEMON VERBENA

Encyclopedia of Herbs states; Here is an herb that migrated from the New World to the the Old Lemon verbena is an unassuming shrub that charmed the Spanish explorers who happened upon it in Argentina and Chile. There, the shrubs grow to 10 or 15 feet tall, but because they are so sensitive to cold weather, North Americans usually confine them to containers. The delicate lemony aroma works well by itself as a body scent, and it is an aroma that people seem to find intimate. The leaves were used as an after-bath body rub, and the scent naturally found its way into commercial soaps and bath oils. In Gone with the Wind, lemon verbena is mentioned as the favorite fragrance of Scarlet O'Hara's mother. And in Charles Wilson Peale's portrait of Mrs.Benjamin Rush, the woman wears a sprig of the herb.