Mentha arvensis - (image 1 of 5)
Taxonomy
Family: Lamiaceae
Habitat
Common in marshes. Also in calcareous fens, moist meadows, and along streams and shores.
Associates
Distribution
Most of the U.S. and Canada but absent from some states in the southeast.
Morphology
Herbaceous perennial to a little under 1 m tall. Leaves opposite, short-petiolate, glabrous to hairy, serrate, acuminate. Flowers white to purple or pink, from the axils of the upper leaves; calyx pubescent.
Notes
Flowers mid July to late September
Wetland indicator: Facultative Wetland
This our only native member of this genus. The plants pictured here are Mentha arvensis var. villosa (Benth.) S. R. Stewart.
References
Gleason, Henry A. and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of
Northeastern United States
and Adjacent Canada. Second Ed.
The New York Botanical Garden. Bronx, NY
Swink, F. and G. Wilhelm. 1994. Plants of the Chicago Region.
Indiana Academy of Science. The Morton Arboretum. Lisle, Illinois.
USDA, NRCS. 2002.
The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5 (http://plants.usda.gov).
National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.
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Michael Hough © 2005 |