MENISPERMUM 



13C0. Leaf of Mcnispermum Canadense (XK)- 



are peltate near the margin, "and axillary or super-axil- 

 lary panicles or cymes of small dioecious Hs. : f r. a com- 

 pressed berry -like drupe, containing a flattened crescent- 

 shaped or curved stone (whence the name Moonseed): 

 stamens 9-24, with 4-loculed anthers in the staminate 

 fls., 6 and sterile in the pistillate fls.; pistils 2-4, with 

 broad stigmas; sepals 4-8, in 2 series; petals C-8, shorter 

 than the sepals. Both the Moonseeds are neat and inter- 

 esting vines, and are hardy in the northern states and 

 Ontario. Propagated readily by seeds ; or plants of 

 M. Canadenfse may be dug from the wild. Cuttings of 

 ripened wood may also be used. 



CanadSnse, Linn. Comsion Moonseed. Fig. 1390. 

 Stems slender and terete, flocculent-pubescent when 

 young, but becoming glabrous, twining 10 ft. or more 

 high : Ivs. round-ovate to ovate-cordate, 

 entire, but usually angulate-lobed, the long petiole 

 tached just inside the margin : fls. green 

 ish white, in loose, straggling panicles, the 

 sepals and petals usually 6, the stamens in 

 the terminal fls. 17-20 arrl in the lateral 

 ones 11 or 12: fr. hlnivli l,l;i(k. '4 in. in diam , 

 resembling small u'l^ii"--. \lii\i soiK in 

 thickets ami lowlan.ls, i^iu.l.rc in Manitoba 

 and south to Ga. li.M. I'JIO. 



Dairicum, DC. In habit much like the 

 above: Ivs. smaller, deeper green, cordate 

 and angular: fls. incj'mes, yellowish, theter 

 niinal ones with 6 sepals, 9 or 10 petals and 

 about 20 stamens, the lateral ones with 4 

 sepals, 6 petals and about 12 stamens East 

 ern Asia.— Variable. Rarely planted m thi 

 country. L. H B 



MENTHA (from the Greek name of the 

 nymph Minthe). LabiAtm. The term Mint, 

 often applied to various species of the La 

 biatSB, is most frequently used to designate 

 plants of the genus Mentha. This genus 

 is characterized by its square stems and op 

 posite simple leaves, in common with others 

 of the order, and especially by its aiomatic 

 fragrance, its small purple, pink or white 

 flowers, with regular calyx, slightly irregu 

 lar corolla and four anther-bearing stamens, crowded m 

 axillary whorls and the whorls often in terminal spikes. 



Some of the species hybridize freely, producing in- 

 numerable intergrading forms which make the limita- 

 tion of certain species difficult. Many forms have been 



and to tilt \\ sttr 



MENTHA 1003 



iibed, and the sjnon^my is extensive About 30 



Ks ire now rpoognized ill native in the north tem- ■ 



t " 1 ' t IT ' 1 Ti\ ( or naturalized in North 



■- iltnated more or less for 



ntnl oil, which is found 



I ( lalU in minute globules 



11 iiiimt til 11 I I lilt luomic species of 



: inks IS one t il 1 11 | it int of all plants 



le piiidui tion rt I il It was originally 



n 111 (tii it Liii I ]\ in < ontinental 



I I 1 1 1 \ 1 111 many 



i t ii \ 1 action 



II 11 It 111 II I nth cen- 

 li 111 thLiL u 1 I 1 1. Ill \. IV York 



L 111 Uhiu, and in lb 15 'roots" 

 Ohio to Pigeon Prairie, m Michigan, 

 \\here the industi> has giow n to larger proportions than 

 anywheie else Peppermint is now cultivated commer- 

 cially in southwestern Michigan and adjacent parts of 

 northern Indiana, Wayne county. New York, and in 

 Mitchara, Surrey and Lincolnshire, England, and in 

 Saxony. 



Peppermint plants may be grown on any land that 

 will produce good crops of corn, but its cultivation is 

 most profitable on muck soils of reclaimed swamps. It 

 is an exhaustive crop, and on upland is rarely included 

 in the rotation more oftfti thnn .mmm- in five years. On 

 deep, rich iiun-k s.iiN 11 i- .iii. i. ■ r,,«-ii consecutively 

 G years or niurr wiili 1 . :.| i- :■ 1 1 miinution in yield. 

 Peppermint is ih-miii:' , - nf running root- 



stocks, commonly i-iilj.il "r. -.:-:' 1'lii-se are planted, 

 as early in spring as the i^'rmniil can be prepared, in 

 furrows 30 inches apart. On upland two or three crops 

 are usually grown from one setting of the"roots,"but in 

 the swamp lands the runners are plowed under after 

 harvest, continuing the crop indefinitely. Clean culti- 

 vation is required between the rows, and often it is 

 necessary to hoe the plants or pull weeds by hand, espe- 

 cially on land that has not been well prepared. Fire- 

 weed, horseweed, ragweed and other species with bitter 

 or aromatic properties are very injurious to the oil if cut 

 and distilled with the peppermint. 



The crop is cut either with scythe or mowing machine 

 in August or early September, when the earliest flowers 

 are developed and before the leaves have fallen. In 

 long, favorable seasons a second crop is sometimes har- 

 vested early in November. After cutting, the plants 

 are cured like hay, then raked into windrows and taken 

 to the stills where the oil is extricted by distillation 



'Mint still (Fig. 1391) usually consists 

 of two retorts (used alternately), wooden or galvanized 

 iron tubs about 7 ft. deep and 6 ft. in diam. at the top, 

 each with a perforated false bottom and a tight-fltting, 

 removable cover, a condenser of nearly 200 ft. of block 



