Stats

Lifespan: Perennial
Size: Small
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Temperate wetland
Range: Europe and Asia
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Runners
Defense: Toxins
Status: Common

About

Spearmint spreads by underground rhizomes so aggressively that it can colonise an entire garden bed in a single season — gardeners routinely plant it in buried containers to keep it in check. Unlike peppermint, its distinctive cool-sweet flavour comes from carvone rather than menthol.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Lamiales
Family: Lamiaceae
Genus: Mentha
Species: Mentha spicata