Mentha arvensis (Wild Mint)

Plant Description:

Wild mint is a herbaceous perennial plant that can grow up to 40 inches tall. It has a creeping rootstock that grows erect square shaped stems. The leaves are in opposite pairs with broad, hairy, and coarsely serrated margins. The flowers are pale purple (occasionally white or pink) in clusters on the stem at the bases of the leaves. Each flower is 3 to 4 mm long and has a five-lobed hairy calyx, a four-lobed corolla with the uppermost lobe larger than the others .The fruit is a two-chambered carpel. The leaves have been made into tea to treat colds or aid digestion. Mint extracts and menthol-related chemicals are used in food, drinks, cough medicines, creams and cigarettes.

*NEVER CONSUME PLANTS WITHOUT PROPER ID*

• Height: 4 in - 24 in

• Width: .5 ft - 1 ft

• Watering needs: regular, can tolerate dry period

• Sun needs: full sun, can tolerate shade

• Soil needs: moist, well draining

• Bloom Time: Early summer

• Portland Plant List (Backyard Habitat Certification): Yes

Landscape Use and Ecological Function: