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Mentha longifolia
It is a very variable herbaceous perennial plant with a peppermint-scented aroma. Like many mints, it has a creeping rhizome, with erect to creeping stems 40 - 120 cm tall. The leaves are oblong-elliptical to lanceolate, 5 - 10 cm long and 1.5 - 3 cm broad, thinly to densely tomentose, green to greyish-green above and white below. The flowers are 3 - 5 mm long, lilac, purplish, or white, produced in dense clusters (verticillasters) on tall, branched, tapering spikes; flowering in mid to late summer. It spreads via rhizomes to form clonal colonies.
It is native to Europe, western and central Asia (east to Nepal and the far west of China), and northern and southern (but not tropical) Africa.
Mentha longifolia and its extracts have been used for centuries as a food flavoring and a medicine. It has a very strong peppermint flavor which is sometimes confused with other members of the mint family.
Spotted on Jul 8, 2013
Submitted on Jul 9, 2013
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