Lemon Bee Balm
Monarda citriodora
—
Not scored
Native status unresolved in Mississippi. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 53%
- Height
- 1–3 feet
- Spread
- 8–12 inches
- Light
- Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Somewhat dry to moist
Space about 1 ft apart from its recorded spread, about 100 per 100 sq ft. Enter your bed size for a count
Will it fit your yard?
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Annual or biennial
Not yet recorded · Leaves · Bloom
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
Recorded in 15 Mississippi counties.
Ecological relationships
Who uses this plant?
9CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including MS
Genus host records with ranges including MS · Monarda
- Lintneria eremitusHermit Sphinx
- Orthodes majusculaRustic Quaker, Rustic Groundcat
- Papaipema nebrisStalk Borer
- Pyrausta orphisalisOrange Mint Moth, Orange Spotted Pyrausta
- Pyrausta signatalisRaspberry Pyrausta
- Sparganothis sulfureanaSparganothis Fruitworm Moth, Sulfur Leafroller, False Yellow-Head
- Synchlora frondariaSouthern Emerald
- Chionodes fondella
- Xenotemna pallorana
4Specialist beesPollen specialists
Pollen specialists · Monarda
- Dufourea monardae
- Perdita gerhardi
- Perdita variegata
- Protandrena abdominalis
Growing and identification
Plant details
- Family
- Lamiaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 2–11
- Flower color
- Pink, purple or white
What its natural habitat tells you
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Flower color · “Pink, purple or white” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center differs)
- Hardiness · “Zones 2–11” · Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder
- Height · “1–3 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder differ)
- Life cycle · “Annual or biennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center differs)
- Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder differ)
- Soil · “Moist; Occasionally dry” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder differ)
- Spread · “8–12 inches” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder differs)
Conservation status
| Mississippi rank | SNR |
|---|---|
| Global rank | Not available |
| MS status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
In your garden
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Choose a county to begin.
Sources
- Mississippi occurrence source
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications

