oswego tea
oswego tea Lexical Profile
• noun
North American A perennial North American plant of the mint family, featuring showy red flowers and aromatic leaves, naturally found in eastern woodlands and stream banks.
"The gardener planted a border of Oswego tea to attract hummingbirds and butterflies to the summer flowerbeds."
American An aromatic herbal infusion brewed from the dried leaves of the Monarda didyma plant, famously consumed by American colonists after the Boston Tea Party.
"During the colonial boycott of British goods, many patriotic families served Oswego tea as a domestic alternative to imported black tea."
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Named after the Oswego, an Iroquoian-speaking Native American tribe in upstate New York, who historically taught early European settlers how to brew a tea from the leaves of the Monarda didyma plant.