Mentha spicata L. subsp. spicata
Stems glabrous or sparsely hairy. Lvs with hairs confined to veins on lower surface; lamina rounded to cordate at base. Infl. glabrous or sparsely hairy; spikes slender or fairly stout, often interrupted, especially in lower part. Corolla almost glabrous outside. Nutlets present or 0.
N.; S.: scattered in most settled localities; St.; Ch.
Origin unknown 1864
An escape from cultivation along roadsides and in waste places near dwellings, especially in damp grassy places such as ditches and banks of streams running through settlements.
This subsp. has been known as M. sativa and M. viridis in N.Z.
In N.Z. 2 distinct forms of subsp. spicata are naturalised.
(1) This corresponds to the spearmint of N.W. Europe and has lanceolate or narrow-elliptic, ± plane lvs, is deciduous in colder areas, is very susceptible to mint rust disease and is sterile.
(2) This is usually known as winter mint in N.Z. and has ovate, ovate-oblong or elliptic, rugose lvs, is evergreen in all parts of the country, is not badly infected with mint rust and produces fully formed nutlets. It has 2 n = 48 (E. J. Beuzenberg, pers. comm.), and is thus a tetraploid as is spearmint, whereas the putative parents have 2 n = 24. Winter mint is the most commonly used culinary mint in N.Z. and must have been introduced before 1900. It has been recorded as M. cordifolia but the true M. × cordifolia Opiz is a M. spicata hybrid not known to be wild in N.Z.
