Melissa L.
Perennial herbs; rhizomes short. Lvs simple, toothed. Verticels in axillary whorls, few- to many-flowered, in axils of leaflike bracts. Bracteoles linear, ovate or obovate. Calyx ± campanulate, 13-nerved, not gibbous at base, 2-lipped; upper lip flattened, 3-toothed; lower lip 2-toothed. Corolla 2-lipped; tube > calyx, curved upwards and widening above middle, lacking a ring of hairs; upper lip erect or sometimes deflexed, emarginate; lower lip spreading, 3-lobed. Stamens included, convergent below upper lip; anther cells divergent. Style gynobasic, its branches subequal. Nutlets narrow-obovoid, smooth.
3 spp., Eurasia. Naturalised sp. 1.
