Wild Bergamot Tincture & Alcohol-Free Extract

Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) is a bushy perennial of the mint family, Lamiaceae, native to most of North America from Quebec to British Columbia and south to Georgia and Mexico, where it grows in prairies, open woods and roadsides. It stands 60 to 120 cm tall with square stems and opposite, grey-green, toothed, lanceolate leaves that smell strongly of oregano and bergamot orange when crushed. Shaggy, rounded heads of tubular lavender-pink flowers top each stem in midsummer and attract bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. We extract the dried leaf.