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Peppermint
(Mentha piperita)
Lamb mint, brandy mint
 Description:
A perennial hybrid, with a menthol or distinct peppermint
aroma. The stems, coming from connected underground roots,
are erect, square and branching, tinged with reddish-purple.
The opposite, dark green, ovate to lanceolate, serrated
leaves are smooth with few hairs. Flowers are pale violet
in loose, interrupted terminal spikes. It is mostly cultivated.
Found wild in moist cool, damp streams in lower altitudes,
except California.
Edible,
Medicinal: It has many culinary uses. Used as a anodyne,
carminative, refrigerant, and tonic. Preparations from
the leaves are used for colds, coughs, fevers, nausea,
cramps, indigestion, gas, stomachaches, headaches, nervous
tension, insomnia, and heartburn. It anesthetizes the
nerves in the intestinal tract where catnip and angelica
have a low-level drug antispasmodic effect. Steep 2-3
teaspoons of the leaves in 1 cup water. Take 1 1/2-2 cups
a day. After 12 days wait a week before resuming. Repels
mice and rats.
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