Herb of the Week-Spearmint
Garden Mint
Menthol Mint
Mint
Sage Of Bethlehem
Silver Mint
Spearmint
Spearmint (botanic name Mentha spicata) belongs to the mint family (Lamiaceae) and is indigenous to most of the European regions as well as places in southwest Asia. The species derives its name from the resemblance of the tips of its leaves to pointed lances or spears. However, as spearmint has been extensively cultivated since ancient ages, the precise natural variety of this species is yet to be ascertained by botanists. Spearmint is an herb-like rhizomatous (a flat, subversive stem that often sends out roots and shoots from its nodes) plant that thrives best in damp soil conditions. This is a perennial herb that grows up to a height of 30 to 100 cm. The spearmint plant is extremely invasive by nature and was first noticed in the Great Lakes way back in 1843. The stems of the spearmint plant may or may not have hair-like bristles. The plant has dense undergrowth and an extensive fleshy rhizome beneath the ground. The deep green leaves of spearmint grow up to five to nine cm in length and 1.5 to 3.0 cm in width having finely dented edges. The flowers of this species emerge on thin spikes and are found in white or pink color. Usually the flowers are 2.5 to 3.0 mm in length as well as width.
Spearmint is found to be growing in the wild in temperate climatic regions, particularly in areas that receive shade and where the atmosphere is slightly humid. The height of cultivable varieties of the species varies between one foot (30.8 cm) and three feet (1 meter). These plants bear vividly green leaves and white or lavender hued flowers in whorls on slender spikes. The spearmint plants usually blossom during the later part of the summer. As mentioned earlier, plants of this species are able to grow from the nodes of their runners wherever they come in contact with the ground and multiply rapidly. Unless checked, the plants invade the entire space very quickly. In order to restrict the rapid growth of the plants, people usually grow the plants in large well-drained pots or containers and place these pots under the ground, leaving around three inches of the containers above the ground. This process prevents the runners from running haywire under the soil as also from colonizing above the pots. Alternately, the spread of the runners may also be controlled by creating subversive barricades with plastic sheets around the roots.
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