Mentha
(the old Latin name, borrowed from the Greek name Minthe). Mint. SYNS. Audibertia and Pulegium. ORD. Labiatae. "... A natural genus, not numerous in species, but widely diffused over the greater part of the globe without the tropics, and most of the species, from the variety of situations to which they will adapt themselves, vary so much as to render their exact definition almost hopeless. Many of them also propagate so readily from suckers that individual specimens are perpetuated so as to assume the appearance of species. Almost all the species vary in the stamens" (Bentham). Whorls usually many-flowered, sometimes all remote in the axils of the leaves, sometimes approximate into terminal spikes, with the superior floral leaves bract-formed. Only a few of the species are worthy of cultivation. The dwarf evergreen kinds are readily increased by division of the plants in autumn and winter. For culture and uses of Spearmint and Peppermint, see Mint.
M. citrata (Citron-scented). Bergamot Mint. fl. reddish-purple, in round terminal heads. Summer. l. petiolate, ovate, broadly rounded at the base, or sub-cordate, glabrous. h. 1ft. Europe (Britain). SYN. M. odorata. (Sy. En. B. 1029.) M. odorata (odorous). A synonym of M. citrata.
M. piperita (pepper). Peppermint. fl. purple; spikes loose, obtuse, short, interrupted at the base. Autumn. l. petiolate, ovate-oblong, acute, serrated, roundly crenated at the base, glabrous. Stem branched, reddish. h. 1ft. to 2ft. Europe (Britain). (B. M. Pl. 203.) M. Pulegium (Pulegium). Pennyroyal. fl. pale purple; whorls all remote, globose, many-flowered. Autumn. l. petiolate, ovate. Stem much-branched, prostrate. Europe (Britain), North and West Asia, North Africa. (B. M. Pl. 201.) See Pennyroyal. The variety known as M. P. gibraltarica is largely employed in geometrical gardening. It has a dwarf, compact growth, and deep green foliage.
M. Requieni (Requien's). fl. pale purple, in loose, few-flowered whorls. Summer. l. petiolate, small, stalked, orbicular. Stems spreading at the base, much branched; branches filiform, ascending. Corsica, 1829. A pretty and minute creeping herb.
M. rotundifolia (round-leaved). fl. whitish, in dense, conically cylindrical spikes. Autumn. l. sessile, ovate-roundish, crenated, wrinkled, pubescently-hairy above, woolly beneath. Stem erect, panicled by a few branches at top. h. 1ft. to 2ft. Europe (Britain), North and West Asia, North Africa. (Sy. En. B. 1020.) M. r. variegata (variegated). This variety is far more useful for horticultural purposes than the type. Its leaves are wrinkled on the upper surface, covered with a cobweb-like down underneath, and elegantly variegated with green and light yellow, which ultimately becomes darker. M. viridis (green). Common Green Mint or Spearmint. fl. purplish; spikes cylindrical, loose; whorls approximate, or the lower ones or all distant. August. l. nearly sessile, ovate-lanceolate, unequally serrated, glabrous. Stem erect. h. 2ft. Europe (Britain). (B. M. Pl. 202.)