A comparative study on essential oil intraspecific and seasonal variations: Melissa romana Mill and Melissa officinalis L. from Sardinia.

Two species of Melissa are currently present in Sardinia: Melissa officinalis L. and Melissa romana MILL. Our research can
only count on a few supported evidences (as reported in Flora Italiana and Moris) and some notes on new stations in Sardinia
that give us some information about morphology, distribution, bioecological, and ethnobotanical characteristics of both species.
In this paper, we present the results of the research about morphological aspects of M. romana vs. M. officinalis, and their
essential oils in different stations at different phenological periods. Moreover, we compared the essential oil of M. romana with
the one obtained from M. officinalis growing in the few naturalized stations still present in Sardinia. The most evident
morphological differences between the two entities are the long-stalked capitate glandular trichomes, shorts and inclined capitate
trichomes, and peltate hairs. The chemical composition of essential oil presents several significant differences between the
species. In fact, oils show that in none of the phenological stages, M. romana recalls in its composition M. officinalis. Major
distinctions are also evident between dry and fresh plants, and among essential oils distilled in different seasons.