What does it smell and taste like? A lot of dried leaves look a lot alike, so telling us that would help a lot.

The leaves look a bit like lemon verbena to me, so if it's a lemony smelling/tasting leaf, that might be it.

I concur with Bees--dried herbs are really tough to distinguish. But lemon verbena does have some characteristics--aside from the lovely true lemon smell, it has a tough center vein that's nearly always present when dried. Did the live plant look like this?

Thanks guys. As soon as I get home from work, I'll smell and taste it so that I can try to make an accurate description. I do recall it's lemony so you guys are most likely right :)

Kind Regards,

Pedro

Could you rehydrate a few of the more intact leaves and post a picture? That would show shape and serrations etc.

Finally home.

Taste & Smell: Honestly it's a bit hard to describe it because now I'm trying to find a lemony flavor :) But it tastes a bit lemony to both me and my wife. Doesn't seem to smell much lemony though, but I've had them for 3 or 4 years in a cabinet with many other herbs so the smell might be really compromised.

I've never seen the live plant, just the dried leaves. It does have a though center vein.

I took a picture of the more intact leaves (which unfortunately aren't intact at all) and tried to rehydrate two of them. Two new pictures uploaded.

Close Up

Rehydrated

Once again thanks for the help,

Kind Regards,

Pedro

I think we've got a winner! Concur?

I can't agree more that dried botanicals are very difficult to ID. That is why labeling is so important. I agree that lemon verbena is a possibility. It is a wonderful tea plant in any regard and makes it into many tea blends.

Pedro, where did your father-in-law live? I'm assuming the neighbor grew the plant outside, year-round? If so, location may help to eliminate some possibilities. For example, lemon verbena is not hardy in my zone and cannot be left to overwinter outdoors.

FataMorgana

I have a Lemon Verbena plant and the rehydrated leaves do look similar. I don't dry the leaves, but always use fresh, so can't comment on how well they retain their flavor once dried and stored.

LV leaves do retain a nice scent when dried, though 3+ years is pretty old for anything to still have a good scent. I use them dried in some cooking blends-lemon pepper and a steak seasoning. Personally, I would say I'm 90+% that you're talking lemon verbena. When I dry mine, the do curl that way. I then crumble the leaf away from the center vein, but those that I have purchased have been very 'sticky' with the center veins and stems attached, similar to what I see in the first photo.

Otherwise, if I'm wrong, as Fata says, lemon verbena is a wonderful tea herb that I think OP will enjoy anyway. And location will play a part--it's not winter hardy here for me either, though my pot comes inside. Easy to grow.

Hello everyone,

Thanks a lot for everyone's help. It was indeed Lemon Verbena (bought some LV tea to confirm and it's exactly the same).

Kind Regards,

Pedro