Mentha arvensis  L. - Wild Mint


 

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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