bergamot

bergamot (bûr`gəmŏt') [from Bergamo, Italy], citrus tree (Citrus bergamia) grown chiefly in Italy, belonging to the family Rutaceae (rue family). From the rind of the bergamot orange is extracted an essential oil used in perfumes and eau de Cologne. Various North American plants of the Labiatae (mint family) are also called bergamot because of their bergamotlike fragrance. Chief among these is Monarda fistulosa, or wild bergamot, closely related to the Oswego tea, or bee balm, which it resembles. The name bergamot is also applied to a variety of pear. True bergamot is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Sapindales, family Rutaceae.

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bergamot

Any of several North American perennial plants of the mint family, also known as bee balm, fragrant balm, and Indian's plume. The leaves are used as an herb to flavour tea, punches, lemonade, and other cold drinks. Monarda didyma, native to the U.S., is made into Oswego tea, a beverage used by the American Indian Oswego tribe and said to be the drink adopted by the 18th-century colonists during their boycott of British tea. The pear-shaped fruit of the bergamot orange (Citrus bergamia), found chiefly in Calabria, Italy, is valued by the flavouring and perfume industries for the essential oil extracted from its peel. The bergamot pear, a popular winter pear cultivated in Britain, is a large, round fruit with yellowish green skin.