BLUE AND PURPLE WILD FLOWERS 



branching plant grows a foot or so high, from leafy 

 runners or stolens. The sharply toothed, lance-shaped 

 leaves are pointed at the tip and narrowed at the base. 

 They are noticeably veined, and are set in alternating 

 pairs upon the stalk, sometimes with short stems. 

 They have a strong, aromatic taste, and are much in 

 favour as a flavouring for meat sauces and cooling 

 drinks. It is also used to some extent in medicine. 

 The very small, pale purple, four-cleft, tubular flowers, 

 are set in a tiny, five-parted, bell-shaped green calyx, 

 and are gathered in small whorls, one above the other, 

 with a space between; forming long, slim, terminal 

 spikes, the central spike becoming very long. This 

 Mint is found from Canada south to Florida and Kansas 

 and west to Minnesota and Utah. 



PEPPERMINT. LAMB, OR BRANDY-MINT 



Mentha piperita. Mint Family. 



Peppermint is one of the most popularly known 

 flavourings for candies. The plant is extensively cul- 

 tivated for the strong aromatic oil which it produces, 

 and in this respect it ranks as one of the most important 

 of all plants. This oil is used very extensively in 

 medicines, and for the production of menthol. The 

 cultivation of this species was carried on long ago by 

 the Egyptians. It has a peculiar, penetrating odour, 

 and is pungent and cooling to the taste. In medicines 

 it is used as a stimulant, to allay nausea, and to relieve 

 sudden cramps or pains in the stomach. Peppermint 

 grows from one to three feet high in wet soil, and along 



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