To cause the heart to become merry

My garden always has at least one lemon balm plant. I never plant it, and I often rip out large armfuls when it gets too enthusiastic, but it always comes back. Now, as the rest of the garden lies sad and frozen, the lemon balm is fresh and strong. I just picked a couple of leaves, highly scented, enough to make a good cup of lemony tea.

A few stems, brought inside, produced flowers at the end of October.

Lemon balm, Melissa officinalis.

The flowers are tiny, less than 1 cm. long, growing in the axils of the upper leaves.

Pink flowers, reddish corollas.

Nicholas Culpeper (1814)... suggested it to be used for weak stomachs, to cause the heart to become merry, to help digestion, to open obstructions of the brain, and to expel melancholy vapors from the heart and arteries. (Wikipedia)