Peppermint (Mentha Piperita) is a mint from Britain that, like the others, was brought over by colonists -- an immigrant like themselves -- for its usefulness in cooking (and medical virtues it was believed to have). Like the other mints here, it escaped, found all sorts of conditions where it could flourish, and is now a welcome weed that likes sunand tends to grow tall and rangy. It has a tangy, minty flavor, that will be familiar from its use in peppermint candy. (Synthetics mimic it now.) It escaped, through seed and through the ease with which it forms roots from cut stems, and is now a wild plant, "naturalized" all over the U.S. and much of Canada.

Return to Plants page