Mentha spicata L.

Spearmint

Herb

Perennial

Vascular

Spearmint is an introduced herbaceous perennial in the Mint family (Lamiaceae). It is native to Europe and Asia. Spearmint is widely cultivated in Alabama, and has escaped to roadsides, wet ditches, and stream and pond margins. It is a perennial from a rhizome. Stems are erect, square in cross section, glabrous or with a few hairs, branched, and green to reddish-brown in color. Leaves are opposite, sessile or with short petioles, ovate to oblong or lanceolate in outline, pubescent or glabrous, with serrate margins. Due to a long history of cultivation the leaf shape and pubescence varies greatly. All parts of the plant are aromatic when crushed. Flowers are produced in a whorl that appears as one cluster, but is composed of two opposite axillary cymes (verticillasters). These are arranged in a terminal spike that is interrupted at the base. The individual flowers have a calyx with 5 teeth and a purplish, pinkish, or white corolla with 4 lobes, the upper lobe slightly larger and 2-toothed. The fruit is a brown nutlet. Spearmint is widely cultivated as a culinary herb. It can be eaten raw, added to salads, or used as a flavoring agent in various drinks and confections. Spearmint oil is also used in toothpaste, soaps, chewing gums, mouthwashes, and cough medicines. Numerous cultivars exist. Spearmint prefers a wet soil rich in organic matter in full to partial sun. It spreads aggressively by rhizomes and stolons, and is best grown in pots to confine it.—A. Diamond.

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Not Native FACW+ (NWPL)

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