Vol. III.] 



MINT FAMILY. 



121 



7. Mentha aquatica L. Water Mint. 



Fish Mint. (Fig. 3180.) 

 Mentha aquatica L. Sp. PI. 576. 1753. 



Perennial by suckers, hirsute or pubescent, 

 rarely glabrate; stem stout, erect, leafy, usually 

 branched, i^-2^ high, its hairs reflexed. 

 Leaves broadly ovate, petioled, acute, subacute 

 or the lower obtuse at the apex, rounded, subcor- 

 date or rarely narrowed at the base, sharply ser- 

 rate, the larger i^ / -3 / long and nearly as wide; 

 whorls of flowers in terminal dense short thick 

 rounded spikes, and usually also in the upper 

 axils; spikes seldom more than i / long in fruit; 

 bracts lanceolate, shorter than the flowers; calyx 

 hirsute, its teeth lanceolate-subulate or triangular- 

 lanceolate, one-third to one-half as long as the 

 nearly cylindric tube; corolla sparingly pubescent. 



In wet places, Nova Scotia to Pennsylvania and 

 Georgia. Naturalized from Europe. Aug. -Oct. 



Corn Mint. 

 3182.) 



1753- 



9. Mentha arvensis L,. 



Field Mint. (Fig. 



Mentha arvensis L. Sp. PL 577. 



Perennial by suckers, pubescent or gla- 

 brate; stems erect or ascending, simple or 

 branched, 6 / -2 high, slender. Leaves ob- 

 long-lanceolate, oval or ovate, petioled, acute 

 at the apex or the lower obtuse, creuate-ser- 

 rate with bluntish teeth, mostly narrowed at 

 the base, i / -2^ / long, %'-\ f wide, the upper 

 not much smaller than the ower; whorls of 

 flowers all axillary, usually about equalling 

 the petioles; calyx pubescent, campanulate, 

 its teeth triangular, about as long as the 

 width of their base, acute or sometimes ob- 

 tuse, one-third as long as the tube. 



In dry waste places, New Brunswick, north- 

 ern New York to New Jersey, Pennsylvania and 

 Florida/ Also in California and Mexico. Nat- 

 uralized from Europe. Called also Lamb's- 

 tongue and Wild Pennyroyal. July-Sept. 



8. Mentha crispa L,. Crisped-leaved, 

 Curled or Cross Mint. (Fig. 3 1 8 1 . ) 



Mentha crispa L. Sp. PI. 576. 1753. 



Mentha aquatica var. crispa Benth. Lab. Gen. 



& Sp. 177- i833- 



Sparingly pilose pubescent at least at the 

 nodes, petioles and veins of the lower surfaces 

 of the leaves; stem rather weak, usually much 

 branched, i^ -3 long. Leaves distinctly 

 petioled, or the uppermost sessile, ovate in 

 outline, mostly acute at the apex, rounded, 

 truncate or subcordate at the base, their 

 margins crisped, wavy and incised, or the 

 uppermost merely sharply serrate; whorls of 

 flowers in dense thick rounded terminal 

 spikes, which become i'-iJ^' long in fruit; 

 calyx sparingly pubescent or glabrous, its 

 teeth subulate, more than one-half as long 

 as the campanulate tube; corolla glabrous. 



In swamps and roadside ditches, southern 

 New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. 

 Aug.-Oct. 



