B. P. 1-189. 



PEPPERMINT. 



DESCRIPTION. 



One of the most important essential oils produced in the United 

 States is distilled from the peppermint plant and its varieties. The 

 three kinds of mint grown in this country for the distillation of pep- 

 permint oil are the so-called American mint {Mentlui piperita L.), 

 the black mint {MentJia piperita ralffai'is Sole), and the white mint 

 {Mentha piperita officinalis Sole), the two last named being varieties 

 of the American mint. 



The American mint, although introduced from England many 

 years ago, is so called from the fact that it has long been cultivated 

 in this C(Mnitrv. and the name " State mint " has been applied to it in 

 the State of New York for the same reason. 



The peppermint, or American mint, is now naturalized in many 

 parts of the eastern United States, occurring in wet soil from the Xew 

 England States to Minnesota, south to Florida and 'Tennessee. It is 

 an aromatic perennial belonging to the mint family (Menthacea'), 

 and propagates by means of its long, running roots (fig. 1). The 

 smooth, square stems are erect and branching, from 1 to 3 feet in 

 height, bearing dark-green, lance-shaped leaves, which are from 1 to 

 2 inches long, and from one-half to 1 inch wide. The leaves are 

 pointed at the apex, rounded or narrowed at the base, sharply 

 toothed, smooth on both sides, or with hairy veins on the lower sur- 

 face. The flowers are borne in whorls in dense, terminal spikes: they 

 are purplish, with a tubular, five-toothed calyx, and a four-lobi^d 

 corolla. (Fig. 2.) 



a In response to a steady demand for information relating to the peppermint 

 industry, Miss Alice Henkel. Assistant in l)rn.i,'-l'l:int Invcstiiiations. lias hccn 

 requested to bring together the most imiiortant facts r»^garding the history, 

 culture, and utilization of the peppermint i)lant. The information here pre- 

 sented has been obtained in large part from scattered articles on the subject, 

 and in part from experience with the plant in the Testing (iardens of the l)ei)art- 



rnent of Agriculture. 



Rodney II. True. Phii-siologist in Charge. 



Office of Drug-Plant Investigations. 



Washwyton, I). C.. (xlobrr I',, 190-5. 



5 



