Mentha arvensis (Wild Mint) - photos and description
Origin: Native.
General: Erect plants with simple stems, rhizomatous. Stems square, glabrous at bottom of stem, pubescent towards top of stem. Plants have a strong minty aroma.
Flowers: Flowers mauve in colour in whorls in leaf axils, flowers measured to 5 mm in length.
Leaves: Leaves opposite, serrate, lanceolate to elliptical, having short petioles. We measured a large leaf blade at 9.5 cm long and 2.5 cm wide. Leaves are pubescent below with short hairs, and sparsely hairy above.
Height: Height listed in Budd's Flora to 50 cm, we measured plants to 55 cm tall.
Habitat: Sloughs, ditches, and wet places across Saskatchewan.
Abundance: Common.
When and where photographed: Photos taken July 21st, beaver swamp, Duck Mountain Provincial Park, 300 km north east of our home in Regina, SK.