Spearmint

Spearmint

HerbaMenthaeSpicatae

Spearmint herb

[alias] green mint, green mint.

[source] it is the whole plant of menthaspicata L.

[plant morphology] perennial herb, 0.3-1.3m high, with branches. The rhizome goes horizontally. Stem square, much branched, purple or dark green. Leaves opposite, elliptic lanceolate, 1-6cm long, 3-17mm wide, apex acuminate or acute, base rounded or cuneate, margin sparsely serrate, glabrous on both sides, glandular dots below; no petiole. Cymes dense into terminal spikes; bracts linear, ciliate; calyx campanulate, glabrous outside, with 5 teeth, ciliate; corolla purple or white, inner surface of corolla tube without ring hairs, with 4 lobes, upper lobes large; stamens 4, extending out of corolla; style tip 2-lobed, extending out of corolla. Nutlets ovate, black, puberulent. The flowering period is from July to August and the fruiting period is from August to September.

It is cultivated in Hebei, Guangdong and Jiangsu, and wild in Xinjiang.

[harvest] harvest from May to August.

[chemical constituents] it contains volatile oil, mainly carvone, limonene and phellandrene.

[function indications] dispelling wind, regulating qi and relieving pain. For cold, cough, headache, epigastric pain, dysmenorrhea.