MINT FAMILY 



wild in wet places near cultivated grounds; sometimes 

 its leafy stems fill up narrow ditches. The leaves 

 possess a pleasant aromatic taste and fragrance, 

 due to a volatile oil which is soluble in water. 



The stems are square, smooth, often stained with 

 purple, the conspicuously veined leaves opposite 

 on the stem, and small stems and leaves are often 

 in their axils. The tiny purplish flowers appear in 

 small bracted whorls one above the other, with a space 

 between, forming slender terminal spikes. These 

 spikes are especially narrow and pointed, this char- 

 acteristic distinguishing them from the spikes of 

 Peppermint, which are obtuse and which they other- 

 wise resemble. 



PEPPERMINT 



Mentha piperita 



Perennial. Naturalized from Europe. Moist grounds 

 and shores of streams; cultivated. 



Stem. — Erect, square, smooth, branching; two to three 

 feet high, often stained with purple. 



Leaver. — Opposite, broad oval or ovate, serrate, acute, 

 short-petioled, noticeably veined. 



Flowers. — Whorls of pale-purple flowers, in obtuse 

 spikes both terminal and axillary. In time the lateral 

 spikes overtop the terminal one. 



Calyx. — Bell-shaped, five-toothed. 



Corolla. — Tubular, four-lobed; one lobe a little broader 

 than the other, pale pink. 



Stamens. — Four, erect. 



Pistil. — Four-parted, producing four nutlets. 



Peppermint, a naturalized plant from Europe, de- 

 lights to grow beside running streams where the water, 



i88 



