M E N 
but little branched, leafy. Flower-ftalks fmooth, except 
a roughnefs, or flight hairinefs, at the very fummit. _ Ca¬ 
lyx ribbed, tumid at the bafe, contra&ed a little higher 
up, fmooth, except a few marginal hairs on the long and 
(harp teeth ; corolla fmooth, purplifh, rather longer than 
the ftamens. Native of Siberia, according to Linnaeus. 
Haller confidered it as merely the outcaft of gardens in 
Swiflerland. With us it is only feen in a cultivated date, 
and that but rarely. 
13. Mentha odorata, or bergamot-mint: leaves ftalked, 
heart-fhaped, naked on both tides; fpikes capitate, very 
blunt; calyx and flower-ftalks perfeftly fmooth. Native 
of watery places in Chefliire and North Wales. Willde- 
now thinks it may poflibly be wild in the Palatinate. In 
gardens it is often preferved, for the fake of its fine fcent, 
refembling that of the bergamot orange, being more power¬ 
ful than Monarda didyma. The whole herb often aflumes 
a dark purplifh hue, in which it agrees with piperita ; but 
it differs from all the mints known to us, at leaft all that 
otherwise approach it, in being perfectly deftitute of hairi¬ 
nefs throughout. 
14. Mentha hirfuta, round-headed mint, or hairy wa¬ 
ter-mint : flowers in denfe,compound, terminating, heads; 
leaves ovate, ferrate, fubfefiile, pubefcent; ftamens longer 
than the corolla. Roots long, branched, creeping under 
water. Stem branched, very generally purplifh, rough 
with deflex hairs fcattered all over it; there is however a 
denfe tuft, of fimilar hairs, between the infertions of the 
footftalks, which are erefr, and the hairs on the foot- 
ftalks and leaves alfo point upwards or forwards. The 
degree of hairinefs throughout the whole plant varies ex¬ 
tremely. Leaves 011 fliortifli footftalks, fometimes almolt 
feflile, fpreading, ovate, frequently approaching to ellip¬ 
tical, pointed, ferrate, from a little above the bafe to near 
the tip, paler and moft hairy beneath, efpecially about the 
nerves. Flowers lilac-coloured, numerous, in a large 
round terminating head, which, when accurately obferved, 
is found to be divided into three parts, and is accompa¬ 
nied, at a greater or lefs diftance below it, by a pair, rarely 
more, of fmaller axillary heads. Peduncles and calyx very 
hairy. Stamens generally longer than the corolla. Very 
common in clear ditches, rivulets, and other watery places, 
growing fometimes among large grades and reeds, fome¬ 
times by itfelf. It flowers in Auguft. Hudfon has con¬ 
fidered this, perhaps rightly, as the fame with M. aqua- 
tica f. Sijymbrium of John Bauhin, and Ray’s Synopfis, 
which Dr. Smith believes to be M. piperita of Linnteus, 
and which is defcribed in fir Jofeph Banks’s manufcripts 
by the name of M. Sijymbrium. M. aquatica ot Linnaeus 
feems different from both. 
15. Mentha aquatica, or water-mint: flowers in heads; 
leaves ovate, ferrate, petioled; ftamens longer than the 
corolla. This is not a rough-haired plant. Whorls ter¬ 
minating, cluftered, forming a head or blunt fpike. Sta¬ 
mens longer than the corolla. In the preceding fpecies 
the leaves are more feflile and hirl'ute ; but they agree in 
the length of the ftamens, and the general appearance. 
Linnaus. 
Stem reddifh towards the top, and fet with a few briftly 
hairs pointing downwards. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, a 
little hairy on both fides, fometimes woolly. Branches ge¬ 
nerally fhorter than the leaves. Calyx coloured, ribbed ; 
hairy without, fcored within; teeth not quite equal; glands 
femi-tranfparent. Corolla hairy without, pale red. Fila¬ 
ments half as long again as the corolla, nearly equal. 
Withering. 
Mr. Profeffbr Martyn obferves, “ I have kept thefe de- 
icriptions feparale, becaufe Linnreus’s M. aquatica and 
ours may probably be different plants. Miller has two 
fpecies, M. aquatica, N° 5. and M. paluftris, N° 11.” 
16. Mentha fativa, or marfh whorled mint: flowers in 
whorls; leaves ovate, fliarpifh, ferrate; ftamens longer 
than the corolla. Stem upright; leaves on winged foot¬ 
ftalks, ovate ferrate, pubefcent; peduncles and calyx 
T HA. ’ m 
hairy. Root throwing out long ercephlg horizontal 
fhoots, and one ereft hairy ftem, furnifhed all the way 
up to the flowering part with fhortilh axillary leafy 
branches. Flowers in axillary clufters from many of the 
uppermoft leaves,forming whorls; and each clufteris more 
or lefs peduncled. It is prefumed by Mr. Edward Forfter, 
jun. to be the M. verticillata of Ray's Synopfis, having 
been found by him in the fpot where it was marked to 
grow by Dillenius. Dr. Smith has determined the fame 
plant to be M. fativa of Linnseus from his Herbarium. 
He fufpe&s, after all, that this is no more than a whorled 
variety of M. hirfuta. It flowers in Auguft and September. 
17. Mentha aeutifolia, or fragrant fharp-leaved mint: 
flowers whorled; leaves ovate-fanceolate, tapering at each 
end; calyx hairy all over; hairs of the flower-ftalks fpread¬ 
ing. Gathered by Rand, at the fide of the river Medway, 
in Kent. Miller fays the plant grew between Rochefter 
and Chatham ; where, however, Mr. Sowerby fought for 
it in vain. The whorls are all quite feflile. Calyx clothed 
with afcending hairs, efpecially at the bafe, by which 
this plant is eflentially diftinguifhed from rubra, N° 19. 
while the hairy flower-ftalks diftinguifli it from the fol¬ 
lowing. 
18. Mentha Canadenfis, or Canadian mint: flowers 
whorled ; leaves ovate-lanceolate, tapering at each end ; 
footftalks twice as long as the whorls ; calyx hairy all 
over ; flower-ftalks quite fmooth. Gathered in Canada 
by Kalm. It was lent in 1801, by the late Mr. Mafl'on, 
to Kew-garden, where it lives in the open air, flowering 
in July. No figure of this fpecies has yet appeared. It is 
more nearly allied to our aeutifolia, than to the arvenfis, 
with which Linnams compares it. The long (lender foot¬ 
ftalks, fharply ferrated and more lanceolate leaves, and the 
perfectly fmooth and naked flower-ftalks, are its diferi- 
minating characters. Linnaeus compares this alfo with 
his exigua, and fays that the ftem is higher, not branched, 
very hairy ; leaves narrower by half, (harper, more deeply 
ferrate, of a darker colour, with hairs fcattered over them 
and the calyxes ; the teeth of which are almoft equal. 
But Dr. Smith has difeovered, after much inveftigation, 
that no fucli mint exifts as M. exigua ; and that it is nei¬ 
ther more nor lefs than Cunila pulegioides, a plant of North 
America. 
19. Mentha rubra, or tall red mint: flowers whorled ; 
leaves ovate; ftem upright, zigzag; flower-ftalks and 
lower part of the calyx very fmooth; teeth hairy. Found 
about ditches, wet hedges, and the borders of rivers, not 
unfrequently, in England. Foreign writers leem unac¬ 
quainted with this, which is the tailed: and handfomeft of 
our mints, riling to the height of four, five, or fix, feet, 
with a red, wavy, ufually-fmooth, ftem, bearing few and 
fhort branches. Leaves of a dark fhining green, often veiy 
broad, with ftrong lerratures ; the upper one 9 fmall and 
fhort. Whorls numerous, ftalked, of many large pur- 
plilh-red flowers, with linear fringed braftes. Calyx tu¬ 
bular, dotted with numerous refinous points, quite fmooth, 
like the flower-ftalks, except the teeth, which are always 
more or lefs furnifhed with upright hairs. The whole 
plant has a ftrong aromatic fcent, efpecially in a dry foil : 
it is kept in country-gardens, and called heart-mint, front 
its fuppofed cordial qualities. 
20. Mentha gentiljs, or bufhy red-mint: flowers whor¬ 
led ; leaves ovate ; ftem very much branched and fpread¬ 
ing ; flower-ftalks and bafe of the calyx fmooth. This 
differs widely from the laft in having a low, bufhy, much- 
branched, ftem. The whole plant is rather hairy, and ou 
a dry foilpleafantly aromatic. Leaves paler, lefs Aiming, 
and more elongated, than in rubra, as well as more uni¬ 
form in ihape ; their veins vvhitifh underneath. Flower- 
ftalks round, purple, for the molt part very fmooth. Up¬ 
per part of the calyx more or lels rough, with afcending 
hairs; bafe fmooth; the whole fprinkied with refinous 
dots. Corolla pale purple, generally as long as the ffa- 
mens. Grows in watery waite place*, but sot common ; 
we 
