LABIATAE 



MINT FAMILY 



SPEARMINT 



Mentha spicata L, 



This is 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 naturaHzed from 

 Europe and is now common in wet 

 places from Nova Scotia to Washing- 

 ton and south from Florida to Califor- 

 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- 

 ate, 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 to September. 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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