LABIATE 



light green, with dense, short hairs; acute or the lower 

 obtuse at the apex; wedge-shaped at the base; conspicu- 

 ously veined. 



THE FLOWERS: in whorls in the axils of the leaves; the 

 calyx with short, soft hairs, bell-shaped, about one third as 

 long as the corolla tube. 



THE FRUIT: nutlets. 



This mint grows in low, wet places and has a decidedly 

 mint odour. The small bell-shaped flowers, with sharply- 

 toothed edges, are crowded around the stem in whorls 

 in the axils of the leaves; the whorls becoming gradually 

 smaller, the farther they are up the stem. 



LABIATE MINT FAMILY 



Mentha piperita, L. 



Pale purple Peppermint, 



American Mint, 



July-September Brandy Mint, 



Lamb Mint. 



Mentha: for derivation see arvensis. 

 Piperita: Latin for peppery. 



THE PREFERRED HABITAT: marshes. 



THE PLANT: mostly erect, one foot to three feet high, 

 branched; the stem without hairs, square, purplish. 



THE LEAVES: opposite; dark green; ovate tending to lan- 

 ceolate; without hairs on either surface or with very fine, 

 soft hairs on the veins beneath, at least rough; acute at 

 the apex; rounded or narrowed at the base; sharply saw- 

 toothed; veins prominent beneath. 



THE FLOWERS: in dense whorls forming spikes at the tips 

 of the stem; these spikes thick and in fruit sometimes three 

 inches long. The bracts lanceolate, tapering to a point at 



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