Lemon Bee Balm
Monarda citriodora var. citriodora
Found in prairies, oak savannas, roadsides, other disturbed places. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native status unresolved in Mississippi. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 18%
Will it fit your yard?No photograph yet. Looking for an old drawing…
At a glance
Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Light · Soil · Life cycle · Leaves · Bloom
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
County records are not available.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

Open, grass-dominated places kept open by fire, grazing or thin soil, from tallgrass prairie to Piedmont prairies.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
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
Plant details
- Family
- LAMIACEAE
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Conservation status
| Mississippi rank | SNR |
|---|---|
| Global rank | Not available |
| MS status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025)
- 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

