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A member of the mint family (Lamiaceae), apple mint is an aromatic herb with a fruity, spearmint flavour. Also known by the common name round-leaved mint, Mentha suaveolens is often misnamed M. rotundifolia in cultivation. Apple mint is cultivated as a culinary herb and is used in the production of mint sauce and jelly.

Mentha suaveolens (apple mint)

[CPLC]

Bernal, R., Gradstein, S.R. & Celis, M. (eds.). 2015. Catálogo de plantas y líquenes de Colombia. Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá. http://catalogoplantasdecolombia.unal.edu.co

Distribution
Naturalizada y adventicia en Colombia; Alt. 2000 - 3900 m.; Andes.
Morphology General Habit
Hierba
Conservation
Preocupación Menor

[KSP]

Kew Species Profiles

General Description
A vigorous, aromatic perennial native to southern and western Europe, apple mint is grown as a culinary herb and ornamental.

A member of the mint family (Lamiaceae), apple mint is an aromatic herb with a fruity, spearmint flavour. Also known by the common name round-leaved mint, Mentha suaveolens is often misnamed M. rotundifolia in cultivation. Apple mint is cultivated as a culinary herb and is used in the production of mint sauce and jelly.

Species Profile
Geography and distribution

Apple mint is native to southern and western Europe and is also naturalised in northern and central Europe.

Description

Overview: A creeping, aromatic (apple-scented), perennial herb growing 40-100 cm tall. The stems are sparsely to densely hairy.

Leaves: The hairy, wrinkly leaves are 3.0-4.5 × 2.0-4.0 cm with toothed margins.

Flowers: Pink to white flowers are produced in dense terminal spikes (each consisting of many false whorls), 4-9 cm long.

Uses:

Apple mint leaves are used to make mint sauce and jelly, which are commonly served alongside lamb, tzatziki and tabbouleh. Leaves can be candied and also used for flavouring in herb teas and iced drinks. Apple mint leaves are hairy, and hence considered less suitable for use as a garnish than those of Mentha spicata (spearmint).

Commonly cultivated as a pot plant and culinary herb, apple mint is an invasive plant and must be kept in check if grown in open ground. The attractive cultivar Mentha suaveolens 'Variegata' (pineapple mint) has creamy-white streaked leaves and a sweet and fruity fragrance.

Millennium Seed Bank: Seed storage

The Millennium Seed Bank Partnership aims to save plant life worldwide, focusing on plants under threat and those of most use in the future. Seeds are dried, packaged and stored at a sub-zero temperature in our seed bank vault.

Four collections of apple mint seeds are held in Kew's Millennium Seed Bank based at Wakehurst in West Sussex.

This species at Kew

Apple mint can be seen growing in the Queen's Garden behind Kew Palace.

Pressed and dried specimens of Mentha suaveolens are held in Kew's Herbarium, where they are available to researchers by appointment. The details of some of these specimens can be seen online in Kew's Herbarium Catalogue.

Ecology
Damp or wet habitats.
Conservation
Not assessed according to IUCN Red List criteria.
Hazards

None known.

[UPB]

The Useful Plants of Boyacá project

Ecology
Alt. 2000 - 3900 m.
Morphology General Habit
Herb.
Distribution
Introduced and naturalised in Colombia.
Conservation
Least concern.

[KSP]
Use
Culinary herb, ornamental.

[UPB]
Use Environmental
Environmental uses (State of the World's Plants 2016).
Use Gene Sources
Crop wild relatives which may possess beneficial traits of value in breeding programmes (State of the World's Plants 2016).
Use Food
Food (State of the World's Plants 2016).

Native to:

Algeria, Azores, Baleares, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canary Is., Corse, East Aegean Is., France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, Madeira, Morocco, Netherlands, Portugal, Sardegna, Sicilia, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkey-in-Europe

Introduced into:

Alabama, Arizona, Austria, Belarus, California, Central European Rus, Chile North, Colombia, Comoros, Connecticut, Czechoslovakia, Delaware, Denmark, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Ireland, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Mexico Central, Mexico Southwest, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, New Zealand North, New Zealand South, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Poland, Romania, South Carolina, Sweden, Texas, Washington, Yugoslavia

English
Apple mint

Mentha suaveolens Ehrh. appears in other Kew resources:

Date Reference Identified As Barcode Type Status
Jan 1, 2011 Rodrigues [3789], Brazil K000249979
Jan 1, 2011 Zanin [s.n.], Brazil K000735165
Jan 1, 2011 Zanin [s.n.], Brazil K000735166
Di Palma, A. [2745], Italy K000494856
Di Palma, A. [2745], Italy K000494857

First published in Beitr. Naturk. 7: 149 (1792)

Accepted by

  • Bernal, R., Gradstein, R.S. & Celis, M. (eds.) (2016). Catálogo de plantas y líquenes de Colombia 1-2: 1-3068. Libro impreso.
  • Castroviejo, S. & al. (eds.) (2010). Flora Iberica 12: 1-650. Real Jardín Botánico, CSIC, Madrid.
  • Dobignard, A. & Chatelain, C. (2012). Index synonymique de la flore d'Afrique du nord 4: 1-431. Éditions des conservatoire et jardin botaniques, Genève.
  • Govaerts, R. (2003). World Checklist of Selected Plant Families Database in ACCESS: 1-216203. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  • Martínez-Gordillo, M. & al. (2019). Flora del Valle de Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Lamiaceae: 1-233. Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
  • Webb, C.J., Sykes, W.R & Garnock-Jones, P.J. (1988). Flora of New Zealand 4: 1-1365. R.E.Owen, Government Printer, Wellington.

Literature

Kew Species Profiles

  • Bown, D. (1996). The RHS Encyclopedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley Ltd, London.
  • Huxley, A., Griffiths, M. & Levy, M. (eds) (1999). The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening, Volume 3 (L to Q). Macmillan Reference, London.
  • Mabberley, D. J. (2008). Mabberley’s Plant-book: a Portable Dictionary of Plants, their Classification and Uses. 3rd Edition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
  • Tutin, T. G. et al. (1972). Flora Europaea, Volume 3 (Diapensiaceae to Myoporaceae). Cambridge University Press, London.
  • World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (2010). Mentha suaveolens. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Catálogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia

  • ColPlantA (2021). "ColPlantA. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet; http://www.colplanta.org/"

Useful Plants of Boyacá Project

  • GRIN National Genetic Resources Program http://www.ars-grin.gov in The State of the World’s Plants Report–2016. (2016). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew https://stateoftheworldsplants.org/2016/

Kew Backbone Distributions

  • Barthelat, F. (2019). La flore illustrée de Mayotte: 1-687. Biotope éditions.
  • Bernal, R., Gradstein, R.S. & Celis, M. (eds.) (2016). Catálogo de plantas y líquenes de Colombia 1-2: 1-3068. Libro impreso.
  • Delipavlov, D. & Cheshmedzhiev, I. (eds.) (2011). Opredelitel na rasteniiata v Bulgariia: 1-590. Akad. Isd. Agrar. Univers. Plovdiv.
  • Martínez-Gordillo, M. & al. (2019). Flora del Valle de Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Lamiaceae: 1-233. Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
  • Webb, C.J., Sykes, W.R & Garnock-Jones, P.J. (1988). Flora of New Zealand 4: 1-1365. R.E.Owen, Government Printer, Wellington.

Catálogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

Colombian resources for Plants made Accessible
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Herbarium Catalogue Specimens
Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Kew Backbone Distributions
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2021. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2021. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

Kew Species Profiles
Kew Species Profiles
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

Useful Plants of Boyacá Project
ColPlantA database
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0