Mentha spicata

Description

Mentha spicata, also known as green mint, spearmint, or spear mint, is a perennial plant species within the family Lamiaceae. It is a member of the lip flower family and is commonly cultivated for its aromatic properties.

### Appearance and Leaf Characteristics

The green mint grows as a persistent, herbaceous plant with growth heights ranging from 30 to 130 centimeters. It forms subterranean rhizomes and has a pleasant aromatic smell. The taste is sweeter than that of peppermint and lacks the pungency of menthol, which it contains in limited quantities.

The upright, quadrangular stems are typically green to reddish in color and usually branch in the upper region, being bare or almost bare. The foliage leaves, arranged oppositely on the stem, are unstalked or stalked up to 2 millimeters and glandular at the base of the leaves. They have a simple, approximately bare leaf spread with an egg-shaped, elongate to narrow lancet shape, featuring a heart-shaped, rounded or wide wedge-shaped spread base and a sharper tip.

### History of Nomenclature

Various mints have been described in Greco-Roman Antiquity, but the philologist Jacques André does not identify Mentha spicata among the many Greek and Latin appellations. In 1753, when Linné described the genus Mentha in Species plantarum, he recognized 10 different species, including Mentha spicata "with flowers in ears, and oblong tightened leaves" with three viridi varieties: longifolia, rotundifolia.

In 1762, during the second edition of Species Plantarum, Linné replaced M. spicata with three new species: M. sylvestris, M. viridis, and M. rotundifolia. The precise analysis of the texts led Farwell (in 1924) to consider the epi mint (spearmint) to be the Mentha spicata.

Vernacular Names

Mentha spicata is also referred to by various vernacular names, including:

* Moroccan mint (naanaaa,ن)
* Crepue mint
* Soft mint
* Curly mint