Common Names
Spearmint, brown mint, common mint, garden mint, lady's mint, sage of Bethlehem, Scotch mint, Scotch spearmint.

Description
A perennial that grows to 3 feet in height. It looks like other mints but is different in odor and taste from the others. It is less pungent than M. piperita, and not as cooling as peppermint. Leaves are oblong, lanceolate, toothed, and about 2 inches long. Flowers are in long spikes in the upper axils and terminally.

Flowering Period
June to October. Range
Asia, Egypt and s. and c. Europe

Habitat
Wet places near settlements.

Harvest
Flowering top and leaves.

Habit
Perennial

Family
Mint

Uses
The herb is of value as a flavoring agent, carminative, antiemetic, refrigerant; and it is used to treat colic.

Spearmint Although most commonly used by the colonists to flavor food and drink, mint was also used to whiten teeth, prevent milk from curdling and to strew on floors to repel bad smells and insects.