Scientific Name: Mentha piperita L.
Family: Lamiaceae (Mint Family)
Common name: Peppermint
Description: Perennial herb from runners and rootstocks, with strong essential pungent or pepper-like oil, 1 to 2 feet tall; flowers-fruits June-frost.
Range and Habitat: Introduced from Europe and first reported in the New World in 1806; escaped from gardens and naturalized in marshes, ditches, wet meadows, and around homesites.
In Porcher’s time… peppermint was well known for its aromatic antispasmodic properties often prepared as the essence and mint water.
See the historical entry on this plant as it appears in Resources of the Southern Fields and Forests