''Mentha arvensis'', the corn mint, field mint, or wild mint, is a species of
flowering plant in the
mint family
Lamiaceae
The Lamiaceae ( )
or Labiatae are a family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint, deadnettle or sage family. Many of the plants are aromatic in all parts and include widely used culinary herbs like basil, mint, rosemary, sage, savory ...
. It has a
circumboreal
The Circumboreal Region in phytogeography is a floristic region within the Holarctic Kingdom in Eurasia and North America, as delineated by such geobotanists as Josias Braun-Blanquet and Armen Takhtajan.
It is the largest floristic region in t ...
distribution, being native to the
temperate regions of
Europe and western and central
Asia, east to the
Himalaya and eastern
Siberia, and
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
.
''
Mentha canadensis
''Mentha canadensis'' is a species of Mentha, 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, American wil ...
'', the related species, is also included in ''Mentha arvensis'' by some authors as two varieties, ''M. arvensis'' var. ''glabrata'' Fernald (North American plants such as American Wild Mint) and ''M. arvensis'' var. ''piperascens'' Malinv. ex L. H. Bailey (eastern Asian plants such as Japanese mint).
It grows in moist places, especially along streams.
Description
Wild mint is a
herbaceous
Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials.
Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous"
The fourth edition of t ...
perennial plant generally growing to and rarely up to tall. It has a creeping rootstock from which grow erect or semi-sprawling squarish stems.
The
leaves
A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...
are in opposite pairs, simple, long and broad, hairy, and with a coarsely serrated margin.
The
flowers are pale purple (occasionally white or pink), in whorls on the stem at the bases of the leaves. Each flower is long and has a five-lobed hairy calyx, a four-lobed corolla with the uppermost lobe larger than the others and four stamens. The fruit is a two-chambered carpel.
[.]
Subspecies
Subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
include:[
*''Mentha arvensis'' subsp. ''arvensis''.
*''Mentha arvensis'' subsp. ''agrestis'' ( Sole) Briq.
*''Mentha arvensis'' subsp. ''austriaca'' (Jacq.) Briq.
*''Mentha arvensis'' subsp. ''lapponica'' (Wahlenb.) Neuman
*''Mentha arvensis'' subsp. ''palustris'' (Moench) Neumann
*''Mentha arvensis'' var. ''piperascenes'' Malinv. ex L. H. Bailey - Japanese/Chinese/Korean mint
*''Mentha arvensis'' subsp. ''parietariifolia'' (Becker) Briq.
*''Mentha arvensis'' subsp. ''haplocalyx'' (Linnaeus, e.g. var. sachalinensis)]
Uses
The leaves have been made into tea to treat colds or aid digestion. They can also be eaten raw.
Chemical substances that can be extracted from wild mint include menthol
Menthol is an organic compound, more specifically a monoterpenoid, made synthetically or obtained from the oils of corn mint, peppermint, or other mints. It is a waxy, clear or white crystalline substance, which is solid at room temperature and ...
, menthone, isomenthone, neomenthol, limonene, methyl acetate, piperitone, beta-caryophyllene
Caryophyllene (), more formally (−)-β-caryophyllene, (BCP), is a natural bicyclic sesquiterpene that is a constituent of many essential oils, especially clove oil, the oil from the stems and flowers of '' Syzygium aromaticum'' (cloves), the es ...
, alpha-pinene, beta-pinene, tannins and flavonoid
Flavonoids (or bioflavonoids; from the Latin word ''flavus'', meaning yellow, their color in nature) are a class of polyphenolic secondary metabolites found in plants, and thus commonly consumed in the diets of humans.
Chemically, flavonoids ...
s.streptococci
''Streptococcus'' is a genus of gram-positive ' (plural ) or spherical bacteria that belongs to the family Streptococcaceae, within the order Lactobacillales (lactic acid bacteria), in the phylum Bacillota. Cell division in streptococci occurs ...
and lactobacilli
The ''Lactobacillaceae'' are a family of lactic acid bacteria. It is the only family in the lactic acid bacteria which includes homofermentative and heterofermentative organisms; in the ''Lactobacillaceae,'' the pathway used for hexose fermentati ...
bacteria.
Diseases
Two main diseases that can significantly damage Japanese mint (''M. arvensis'' var. ''piperascens)'' and its yield are the rust fungus and the mildew attacks.[Sievers, A. F., & Lowman, M. S. (1933). ''Commercial possibilities of Japanese mint in the United States as a source of natural menthol'' (No. 378). US Dept. of Agriculture.] Mildew attacks usually only occur on the west coast of United States where the weather can be foggy and humid, a condition that attracts mildew. Rust fungus is a disease that is common for most of the Mentha plants such as peppermint and spearmint. These diseases are flagged due to the almost to none probability of controlling once it starts in a mint farm. They are typically cut immediately when discovered to help reduce the probability of contaminating the rest of the plant leaves.[
]
References
External links
Jepson Manual Treatment
Photo gallery
{{Taxonbar, from=Q160585
arvensis
Flora of Asia
Flora of Europe
Flora of North America
Leaf vegetables
Plants described in 1753
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
