LABIATAE MINT FAMILY 
SPEARMINT 
Mentha spicata L. 
This 1s one of the most noted Mints, by reason of its important 
uses in candy, chewing gum and medicine. Its characteristic odor 
is One means of identification. It has been naturalized from 
Europe and is now common in wet 
places from Nova Scotia to Washing- Nyy 
ton and south from Florida to Califor- w/e 
nia. It is widely scattered and local 
along roadsides throughout Illinois. 
The Spearmint is a smooth peren- 
nial which spreads by leafy stolons and 
forms dense growths. The stems are 
1-2 feet high, branched, with lanceo- 
late, nearly sessile and sharply serrate 
leaves, and small purple flowers in nar- 
row terminal spikes. 
The blooming season is July to 
September. The calyx is more or less 
bristly due to the 5 awnlike equal 
teeth. The corolla is smooth and pale 
purple, twice the length of the calyx 
and nearly equally 4-toothed. The 
posterior lobe is somewhat notched at 
the end. There are 4 equal stamens 
inserted on the corolla tube. The ovary 
is 4-lobed, the style long and slender, 
and the 2 stigmas spreading. 
The Corn Mint, Mentha arvensis L. 
var. canadensis (L.) Briquet, is sometimes 
called Field Mint and has been fre- 
quently confused with the type species 
M. arvensis L., which is a rarity in this state. It is perennial by suck- 
ers and its square, freely branching stems are 6-24 inches long. The 
lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate leaves are hairy and narrowed at 
the base. The white to pink or violet flowers are in axillary whorls 
from July toSeptember. The calyx is 5-toothed and the corolla 4-lobed. 
The Peppermint, Mentha piperita L., is a perennial by subterran- 
ean suckers which is occasional along brooks, ditches and pond 
margins throughout Illinois, and blooms from July to September. 
It is smooth, erect, branched and 1-3 feet high. It is separable from 
other Mints by its thick dense spikes which at first are short, and its 
lanceolate or oblong, acute and petioled leaves. 
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