Missouri Botanical 
Garden Bulletin 
Vol. XII OCTOBER, 1924 No. 8 
SOME VALUABLE MEMBERS OF THE MINT FAMILY 
The discovery by a Japanese that a substance obtained from 
Perilla, one of the mint family, is two thousand times sweeter 
than sugar, again calls attention to the economic importance 
of this group of plants. The best that the chemists have been 
able to do in obtaining something sweeter than sugar is 
saccharin which is one of the numerous coal-tar derivatives 
and, depending upon the dilution, is from two to seven hun- 
dred times sweeter than sugar. 
The Labiatae, or mint family, embraces over three thou- 
sand species widely distributed in warm and temperate re- 
gions. Botanically, they are characterized by having square 
stems, opposite leaves, whorls of lipped flowers, and deeply 
four-lobed dry fruits. They are sometimes of great beauty, 
a notable example being the salvia cultivated in the garden. 
The family is devoid of any harmful properties and is espe- 
cially valuable on account of the volatile oils which many 
of its species yield. 
The term mint, often applied more or less indiscriminately, 
is most. frequently used to designate plants of the genus 
Mentha. The name is derived from a Greek nymph, Mintha, 
who was supposed to have been metamorphosed by Proserpine 
into the herb afterwards named for her. About thirty species 
of Mentha are now recognized, most of which are either native 
or are now naturalized in North America. The peppermint 
(M. piperita) is most important economically because of the 
various uses to which is put the essential oil obtained from 
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