Flora Medica

Leaves subsessile, ovate-lanceolate, unequally serrated, smooth ; thoseunder the flowers all bract-like, rather longer than the whorls ; theselast and the calyxes hairy or smooth. Spikes cylindrical, loose.Whorls approximated,or the lowest or all of them distant. Benth.The herb has a strong, peculiar and pleasant odour, with an aromaticbitter taste, followed by a sense of coldness when air is drawn into themouth. It is an aromatic and carminative, and employed in flatulenceand to relieve the pain of colic. Various preparations are ordered byPharmacopoeias, of which oil of spearmint, and spearmint water are themost common. The former is taken in doses of from 2 to 5 drops,rubbed with sugar, in a little water.1000. M. piperita Linn. sp. pi. 805. Eng. Bot. t. 687.Sole's mints t. 7. Smith Eng. Fl. Hi. 76. Bentham lab. 175.M. glabrata Vahl. kahirina Forsk. balsamea Willd. hirtaWilld. Pimentum N. ab E. In marshes and by the sides ofditches and rivers, all over Europe, in Egypt, the middle of Asia,India, and North and South America. (Peppermint.)Stem procumbent, ascending, branched, reddish, quite smooth, orfringed with a very few spreading hairs; petioles generally ciliated.Leaves ovate-oblong, or somewhat lanceolate, rounded at the base,deep green, smooth or hairy on the under side. Upper floral leavessmall, lanceolate-subulate, snorter than the flowers. Whorls few, lax,the uppermost collected into a short, oblong, obtuse, reddish spike;the lowermost remote, with the cymes shortly stalked. Bracts subulate,the outer ones as long as the calyx. Pedicels quite smooth.Teeth of the calyx hispid, subulate, erect. Bentham. Peppermint isan aromatic stimulant and the most pleasant of all the mints. It isemployed in medicine for several purposes, principally to expel flatus,to cover the unpleasant taste of other medicines, and to relieve nauseaand griping pains of the alimentary canal. The volatile oil is sometimestaken as an antispasmodic ; it is what gives their flavour to peppermintlozenges. Pereira.1001. M. Pulegium Linn. sp. pi. 807. Eng. Bot. t. 1026.Woodv. t. 171. Soles mints t. 23. Bentham lab. 182.M. exigua Linn, simplex Host, tomentosa Smith, tomentellaHffsgg. and Link, gibraltarica Willd. pulegioides Rchb. Pulegiumvulgare Mill. diet. No. 1. P. tomentellum Presl. sic. 36.Wet ditches and similar places in most parts of Europe ;also the Caucasus, Chili, and Teneriffe. (Pennyroyal.)Stems procumbent or prostrate, very much branched, more or lesshairy, rooting. Leaves scarcely an inch long, often much less,stalked, ovate, obtuse, with a few shallow unequal serratures, full ofpellucid dots, and a little hairy, chiefly underneath. Whorls sessile,numerous, many-flowered, globose, distant, large in proportion to thefoliage. Flowers light purple or nearly white. Calyx hispid, 2-lipped,villous in the inside of the throat. The properties of this areanalogous to those of other mints. The public fancy it to be possessedof specific emmenagogue and antispasmodic qualities an ; opinionformerly entertained of it by some medical practitioners. It is principallyemployed in obstructed menstruation, hysterical complaints, andhooping cough. Pereira.487 i i 4