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Mentha, also known as mint (from Greek μίνθα míntha, [2] Linear B mi-ta [3]), is a genus of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae. [4] It is estimated that 13 to 24 species exist, but the exact distinction between species is unclear.
It was given the name Mentha piperita in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus in his Species Plantarum Volume 2. [14] Linnaeus treated peppermint as a species, but it is now universally agreed to be a hybrid between Mentha viridis and Mentha aquatica with Mentha viridis itself also being a hybrid between Mentha sylvestris and Mentha rotundifolis. [15] [16]
Spearmint (Mentha spicata), also known as garden mint, common mint, lamb mint and mackerel mint, [5] [6] is native to Europe and southern temperate Asia, extending from Ireland in the west to southern China in the east. [7]
Pineapple mint (Mentha suaveolens 'Variegata') is a cultivar of apple mint that has leaves which are banded with white. A hybrid derived from it is grapefruit mint (Mentha suaveolens × piperata). Apple mint has been used for medicinal purposes for thousands of years in many parts of the world, including Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Americas.
The naiad Minthe, daughter of the infernal river-god Cocytus, became concubine to Hades, the lord of the underworld and god of the dead. [9] [10] In jealousy, his wife Persephone intervened and metamorphosed Minthe, in the words of Strabo's account, "into the garden mint, which some call hedyosmos (lit. 'sweet-smelling')".
Mentha canadensis is a species of mint native to North America (from the Northwest Territories to central Mexico) and the eastern part of Asia (from Siberia to Java). In North America, it is commonly known as Canada mint , [ 4 ] American wild mint , [ 5 ] and in Asia as Chinese mint , Sakhalin mint , [ 6 ] Japanese mint , [ 7 ] and East Asian ...
Mentha arvensis, the corn mint, field mint, or wild mint, is a species of flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae. It has a circumboreal distribution, being native to the temperate regions of Europe and western and central Asia , east to the Himalaya and eastern Siberia , and North America .
Mints are commonly believed to soothe the stomach given their association with natural byproducts of the plant genus Mentha. [2] Mints sometimes contain derivatives from plants such as peppermint oil or spearmint oil, or wintergreen from the plant genus Gaultheria. However, many of the most popular mints citing these natural sources contain ...