Apple mint (Mentha suaveolens) is a member of the mint genus Mentha that ranges through southern and western Europe and the Mediterranean. It is a herbaceous, upright perennial that is most commonly grown as a culinary herb and/or ground cover. Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. ... Divisions Green algae Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular embryophytes Hepatophyta - liverworts Anthocerophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) Seedless vascular plants Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongues Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering plants... Classes Magnoliopsida - Dicots Liliopsida - Monocots The flowering plants (also angiosperms or Magnoliophyta) are one of the major groups of modern plants, comprising those that produce seeds in specialized reproductive organs called flowers, where the ovulary or carpel is enclosed. ... Orders see text Dicotyledons or dicots are flowering plants whose seed contains two embryonic leaves or cotyledons. ... Families See text The Order Lamiales is a taxon in the asterid group of dicotyledonous flowering plants. ... Genera Many, see text Ref: Delta 2002-07-22 Lamiaceae, or the Mint family, is a family of plants in about 180 genera and some 3,500 species. ... This article is about the herb. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is a standard convention used for naming species. ... Species Mentha aquatica Mentha arvensis Mentha citrata Mentha longifolia Mentha x piperita Mentha pulegium Mentha requienii Mentha spicata Mentha suaveolens The true Mints are perennial herbs in the family Lamiaceae. ... World map showing location of Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. ... The Mediterranean Sea is an intercontinental sea positioned between Europe to the north, Africa to the south and Asia to the east, covering an approximate area of 2. ... A herb (pronounced urb in American English and hurb in British English) is a plant grown for culinary or medicinal value. ... A Red Valerian, a perennial plant. ...

The foliage of Apple mint is light green. Leaves are sessile and round, being oblong to nearly ovate. They are somewhat hairy on top and downy underneath with serrated edges.

Apple mint blooms from July to August, and has light purple-pink flowers. It is hardy and easy to grow, preferring full-sun to lightly-shady conditions. It typically grows to 2 ft tall and spreads by rhizomes to form an attractive ground cover. Wildflowers A flower is the reproductive organ of those plants classified as angiosperms (flowering plants; Division Magnoliophyta). ... In botany, a rhizome is a horizontal, usually underground stem of a plant that often sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. ...

The leaves of this plant can be used to make Apple mint jelly, as well as a flavoring in dishes such as Apple mint couscous. It is also often used to make a tea, as a garnish, or in salads. Jelly is a sweet or savoury food gel, usually made through the addition of gelatin or pectin. ... Couscous (from Maghreb Arabic kuskusu, which is from Tamazight seksu) is a food which consists of grains made from semolina which are about 1mm or 1/16th inch in diameter (after cooking). ...

Pineapple mint (Mentha sauveolens varigata) is a variation of Apple mint that has leaves which are banded with white. Another variety is Grapefruit mint (Mentha suaveolens x piperata).

References

• Penn State Dept. of Horticulture entry for Apple mint (http://hortweb.cas.psu.edu/extension/vegcrops/herbs/mint_apple.html)
• University of Illinois Extension entry for the mints (http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/herbs/mint.html)