Apple Mint (Mentha suaveolens Ehrh.)
Also known as wooly mint.
↑Summary
A mint with fuzzy, rounded leaves, native to Western Europe and North Africa, introduced in North Ameirca.
↑Range - Expand
| Legend | Color |
| Introduced | |
| Introduced or Not Present |
This tentative map is based on our own research. It may have limited data on Canada and/or Mexico, and there is some subjectivity in our assignment of plants as introduced vs. expanded. Read more in this blog post.
Although this plant occurs somewhere in each of these regions, it may only occur in a small part of some or all of them.
↑Life Cycle
Apple mint is a long-lived, patch-forming perennial that reproduces primarily vegetatively, spreading by rhizomes and forming large colonies.
The plant blooms in summer and sets seed later, but reproduction by seed is infrequent.
↑Uses
This species is widely cultivated in gardens, where it is valued for its pleasant aroma, which is similar to spearmint and apples, hence the name. It is used in herbal teas, but because of the hairy leaves it is less commonly used as a fresh herb than spearmint (Mentha spicata).
Numerous cultivars exist, selected both for their aroma and visual appearance and growth habit; some cultivars belong strictly to this species, whereas others are hybrids of this species with other Mentha sp. Some cultivars have variegated leaves.
↑Links & External Resources
• Mentha suaveolens (apple mint) | USDA PLANTS Database (About This Site)
• Apple Mint | iNaturalist (About This Site)
• Mentha suaveolens (Apple Mint) | Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder (About This Site)
• Mentha suaveolens | CABI Invasive Species Compendium (About This Site)
• Mentha suaveolens | Biota of North America Project (BONAP) (About This Site)
• Mentha suaveolens | NatureServe Explorer (About This Site)
• Apple Mint | Maryland Biodiversity Project (About This Site)
• Mentha suaveolens Ehrh. (Pineapple Mint, Round-leaved Mint) | Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora (About This Site)
↑Photo gallery
