Mentha aquatica

Water mint is a herbaceous rhizomatous perennial plant growing to {{convert|90|cm|in}} tall. The stems are square in cross section, green or purple, and variably hairy to almost hairless. The rhizomes are wide-spreading, fleshy, and bear fibrous roots. The leaves are ovate to ovate-lanceolate, {{convert|2|to|6|cm|in}} long and {{convert|1|to|4|cm|in}} broad, green (sometimes purplish), opposite, toothed, and vary from hairy to nearly hairless. The flowers of the watermint are tiny, densely crowded, purple, tubular, pinkish to lilac in colour and form a terminal hemispherical inflorescence; flowering is from mid to late summer. Water mint is visited by many types of insects, and can be characterized by a generalized pollination syndrome,{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1111/plb.12328| title = Competition for pollinators and intra-communal spectral dissimilarity of flowers| journal = Plant Biology| volume = 18| pages = 56–62| year = 2015| last1 = Van Der Kooi | first1 = C. J.| last2 = Pen | first2 = I.| last3 = Staal | first3 = M.| last4 = Stavenga | first4 = D. G.| last5 = Elzenga | first5 = J. T. M.| issue = 1| url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273158762 | pmid = 25754608}} but can also spread by underground rhizomes. All parts of the plant have a distinctly minty smell.Blamey, M. & Grey-Wilson, C. (1989). Flora of Britain and Northern Europe. {{ISBN|0-340-40170-2}}Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan {{ISBN|0-333-47494-5}}. Unbranched, hairless plants, with narrower leaves and paler flowers, native to areas of Sweden and Finland near the Baltic Sea, have been called Mentha aquatica var. litoralis.{{cite web |url=https://www.luontoportti.com/suomi/en/kukkakasvit/water-mint |title=Water mint: Mentha aquatica |publisher=NatureGate |access-date=2013-12-13}}

Mentha aquatica is a polyploid, with 2n = 8x = 96 chromosomes.{{cite book |first1=Arthur O. |last1=Tucker |first2=Robert F. C. |last2=Naczi |year=2007 |chapter=Mentha: An Overview of its Classification and Relationships |pages=1–39 |editor1-first=Brian M. |editor1-last=Lawrence |title=Mint: The Genus Mentha |publisher=CRC Press, Taylor and Francis Group |location=Boca Raton, Florida |isbn=978-0-8493-0779-9}}

Mentha aquatica was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.{{cite web |title=Mentha aquatica L. |work=The International Plant Names Index |url=https://www.ipni.org/n/450192-1 |access-date=2019-07-16 }} As with other Mentha species, it was subsequently re-described under a variety of different names; {{As of|2019|July|lc=yes}}, Plants of the World Online listed 87 synonyms, including four forms or varieties that it does not recognize.{{cite web |title=Mentha aquatica L. |work=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:450192-1 |access-date=2019-07-16 |archive-date=2019-07-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190714111123/http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:450192-1 |url-status=live }} The cultivated eau de Cologne mint (also known as bergamot mint) is considered to be a variety of this species.

It hybridises with Mentha spicata (spearmint) to produce Mentha × piperita (peppermint), a sterile hybrid; with Mentha suaveolens (apple mint) to produce Mentha × suavis; with Mentha arvensis (corn mint) to produce Mentha × verticillata; and with both M. arvensis and M. spicata to give the tri-species hybrid Mentha × smithiana.

Water mint is native to much of Europe, northern Africa and western Asia. It has been introduced to North and South America, Australia and some Atlantic islands.

As the name suggests, water mint occurs in the shallow margins and channels of streams, rivers, pools, dikes, ditches, canals, wet meadows, marshes and fens. If the plant grows in the water itself, it rises above the surface of the water. It generally occurs on mildly acidic to calcareous (it is common on soft limestone) mineral or peaty soils. M. aquatica can occur in certain fen-meadow habitats such as the Juncus subnodulosus–Cirsium palustre plant association.C. Michael Hogan. 2009. [https://www.globaltwitcher.com/artspec_information.asp?thingid=48639 Marsh Thistle: Cirsium palustre, GlobalTwitcher.com, ed. N. Strömberg] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121213144520/https://www.globaltwitcher.com/artspec_information.asp?thingid=48639 |date=2012-12-13 }} It is a component of purple moor grass and rush pastures – a type of Biodiversity ActPlan habitat in the UK.{{Citation needed|date=May 2021}}

It can be used as an edible herb (like spearmint or peppermint)Asadollah-Pour F, Jokar A, Nasiri E, Azadbakht M, Bari Z, Ahmadi A. A Comprehensive Review on the Ethnobotany, Phytochemistry, Pharmacology, and Toxicology of Mentha aquatic L (water mint) as a Wild Shallow Vegetable. Curr Pharm Des. 2021;27(22):2615-2627. doi: 10.2174/1381612827666210219154751. PMID 33605850. [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33605850/] and to make a herbal tea. The cultivated variety known as eau de Cologne mint or bergamot mint is used to produce mentha citrata oil, also known as bergamot mint oil, an ingredient used in perfumery{{Cite web |title=Bergamot mint herb oil |website=The Good Scents Company Information System |publisher=The Good Scents Company |url=https://www.thegoodscentscompany.com/data/es1017371.html |access-date=2019-07-16 }} (not to be confused with bergamot essential oil).{{Citation needed|date=May 2021}}

File:Mentha aquatica (2005 09 18) - uitsnede.jpg|corolla mauve, leaves opposite {{cite book |last=Rose |first=Francis|author-link=Francis Rose|title=The Wild Flower Key |year=1981 |publisher=Frederick Warne & Co|isbn=0-7232-2419-6 |pages=310}}

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• Peppermint
• Spearmint

{{Commons|Mentha aquatica}}

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{{Mint}}

aquatica

Category:Flora of Europe

Category:Flora of Asia

Category:Flora of Africa

Category:Plants described in 1753

Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus