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common balm

Melissa officinalis · Lamiaceae · also called Melissa officinalis · Wikipedia

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Form
perennial
Rated in
Global
On this lot

1. Fire evidence and conditions

Fire evidence
Mixed evidence — location does not change the cited classification.
Evidence regions
Global

2. Why this plant is relevant here

State distribution
Documented in AR, CA, CT, DC, DE, GA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MO, MS, MT, NC, NJ, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, VA, VT, WA, WV.
Introduced / established
33 sourced range or established records. This is not an invasive warning.

3. Legal, ecological, and broader status

Reported invasive here
1 ecological invasive report.
How to read this page

The status above is computed from the cited rows below: independent recommendations can support a fire-resistant result, an avoid row can produce keep-away, and disagreement stays visible as conflict. Placement notes preserve each source’s own scheme rather than translating unlike rules into one scale. This is evidence about a plant, not permission to plant it in every part of the defensible space; Zone 0 remains noncombustible.

Native and introduced range evidence

These are exact U.S. botanical-area records from the cited range source. Native and introduced describe biogeographic relationship, not fire performance or planting approval. Doubtful and extinct rows stay visible but do not count as current presence.

Current native

0

exact source areas

Current introduced

33

exact source areas

Qualified

0

doubtful or extinct source rows

33 introduced source areas · World Checklist of Vascular Plants, version 16 v16, as of 2026-06-04
  • Alabama (AL)
  • Arkansas (AR)
  • California (CA)
  • Connecticut (CT)
  • District of Columbia (DC)
  • Delaware (DE)
  • Georgia (GA)
  • Idaho (ID)
  • Illinois (IL)
  • Indiana (IN)
  • Kansas (KS)
  • Kentucky (KY)
  • Louisiana (LA)
  • Massachusetts (MA)
  • Maryland (MD)
  • Maine (ME)
  • Michigan (MI)
  • Missouri (MO)
  • Montana (MT)
  • North Carolina (NC)
  • New Jersey (NJ)
  • New York (NY)
  • Ohio (OH)
  • Oklahoma (OK)
  • Oregon (OR)
  • Pennsylvania (PA)
  • Rhode I. (RI)
  • South Carolina (SC)
  • Tennessee (TN)
  • Virginia (VA)
  • Vermont (VT)
  • Washington (WA)
  • West Virginia (WV)

The lossless worldwide derivative is retained once in the research corpus; object pages repeat only exact U.S. areas needed by the local lens. The JSON twin carries the same page assertions.

The evidence

Grouped by what each source concluded. Primary evidence rated the plant itself (a lab, field program, or original curation); corroboration compiled or republished another source's rating and resolves to its root lineage.

Listed without a rating (12)
Corroboration (12 rows from 1 source)

  • FLAMITS: FLAMmability plant traiTS database — Dryad / Global Ecology and Biogeography · Dryad version 9 · original source Corroboration Trait database lineage: meta-aggregator

    12 cited rows from this source; its identity, lineage and tier are stated once.

    • Primary study Wesolowski2003: Weso?owski, M., & Konieczynski, P. (2003). Thermal decomposition and elemental composition of medicinal plant materials—Leaves and flowers Principal component analysis of the results. Thermochimica Acta, 397, 171–180.

      Shared row context: plant part leaves; fuel live; predrying yes; device thermal analyzer; site Wesolowski2003-1; sampling ND.

      • Shared measurement context: consumability measurement.

        • “burnt biomass (%): 7.5”

          FLAMITS record 18365.

        • “burnt biomass (%): 48”

          FLAMITS record 18392.

        • “burnt biomass (%): 35”

          FLAMITS record 18419.

      • Shared measurement context: Combustibility measurement.

        • “maximum flame temperature (°C): 65”

          FLAMITS record 18446.

        • “maximum flame temperature (°C): 240”

          FLAMITS record 18473.

        • “maximum flame temperature (°C): 390”

          FLAMITS record 18500.

        • “flame height (cm): 0.7”

          FLAMITS record 18527.

        • “flame height (cm): 2.4”

          FLAMITS record 18554.

        • “flame height (cm): 1.4”

          FLAMITS record 18581.

        • “maximum flame temperature (°C): 75”

          FLAMITS record 18608.

        • “maximum flame temperature (°C): 270”

          FLAMITS record 18635.

        • “maximum flame temperature (°C): 415”

          FLAMITS record 18662.

Fire-resistant perennials instead

blackeyed Susan
Rudbeckia hirta Indianhemp
Apocynum cannabinum blackeyed Susan
Rudbeckia hirta hybrid swamp verbena
Verbena hastata golden tickseed
Coreopsis tinctoria smooth blue aster
Symphyotrichum (f. Aster) laeve

Last verified 2026-08-25. JSON (CC BY 4.0)

Profiles: USDA PLANTS · GBIF · iNaturalist · Wikidata · Wikipedia · ITIS

Melissa officinalis (Melissa officinalis). FireApproved. https://fireapproved.com/plants/melissa-officinalis/. Last verified 2026-08-25.