It is native to South America, growing wild in Peru, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil) and Mexico, from where the conquistadors introduced it to Europe in the 17th century.
In Europe it is widely cultivated in gardens, but its development requires a sunny and humid climate.
It is a deciduous shrub, up to 3 m tall, with subwoody or woody stems at the top.
It has whorled leaves up to 7 cm long, lanceolate, apico-shaped, with a smooth or toothed margin and a very short petiole. They are light green on the upper side, with the underside marked by clearly visible oil glands.
They give off a strong lemon fragrance. They bloom in summer, producing small whitish or whitish-purple flowers clustered in loose spikes, up to 10 cm long. The fruit is a drupe that divides into two single-seeded nuts. The part of the plant used in herbal medicine is the leaves, which contain the essential oil.
The leaves contain between 0.07 and 0.20% of essential oil rich in monoterpenes: 30% citral, geranial, neral, limonene, linalool, terpineol and eucalyptol. Cineol and n sesquiterpene: caryophyllene; furocoumarins. Flavonoids.
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