NameThatPlant.net: Mentha spicata var. spicata

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Lamiids: Lamiales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Mentha spicata var. spicata FAMILY Lamiaceae Go to FSUS key

Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.

Check out EDDMapS.org to see where this has been reported.

Read more about Mentha at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.

INCLUDED WITHIN PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Mentha spicata FAMILY Lamiaceae

INCLUDED WITHIN Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)

Mentha spicata

INCLUDED WITHIN Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)

Mentha spicata

INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 164-32-006:

Mentha spicata FAMILY Lamiaceae

INCLUDED WITHIN Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Mentha spicata

COMMON NAME:
Spearmint

To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Mentha spicata var. spicata, Spearmint

USDA Forest Service / A Guide to Medicinal Plants of Appalachia. 1969 mpa_page_175

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_mesp3_001_lvd

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide pnd_mesp3_004_lvd

Joseph M. DiTomaso, University of California - Davis, Bugwood.org bug_5387436

Month Unknown

Spikes more slender than Peppermint's and with a distinctive Spearmint aroma, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).

Joseph M. DiTomaso, University of California - Davis, Bugwood.org bug_5387436b

Month Unknown

Petioles of the main leaves 0-3 mm long (vs. 4-15 mm long in M. xpiperita), per Weakley's Flora (2012).

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Mentha spicata var. spicata FAMILY Lamiaceae

INCLUDED WITHIN PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Mentha spicata FAMILY Lamiaceae

INCLUDED WITHIN Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Mentha spicata

INCLUDED WITHIN Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Mentha spicata

INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 164-32-006:
Mentha spicata FAMILY Lamiaceae

INCLUDED WITHIN Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Mentha spicata

3040

Forb
Perennial

Habitat: Disturbed areas, per Weakley's Flora

Non-native: Europe

Uncommon in NC Mountains, rare elsewhere

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.

Invasive?

This plant may be causing problems in natural areas outside its native range, according to authorities such as:

LEAVES:
Simple
Opposite
Leaves sessile to short-petiolate

FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Whitish/Lavender
Almost radially symmetrical
5-toothed calyx
4-lobed corolla
4 exserted stamens
Superior ovary
Bisexual

FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Schizocarp of mericarps

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!

Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p143

"We treasure pictures and sculpture. We regard Attic temples and Roman triumphal arches and Gothic cathedrals as of priceless value. But we are, as a whole, still in that low state of civilization where we do not understand that it is also vandalism wantonly to destroy or permit the destruction of what is beautiful in nature, whether it be a cliff, a forest, or a species of mammal or bird. Here in the United States we turn our rivers and streams into sewers and dumping-grounds, we pollute the air, we destroy forests and exterminate fishes, birds and mammals — not to speak of vulgarizing charming landscapes with hideous advertisements." — Theodore Roosevelt

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