You can propagate peppermint from stem cuttings, runners, by division, or layering. Peppermint is a an important commercial crop in the US, and is primarily grown in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wisconsin, and Indiana.Ībout 90 percent of the peppermint grown in the US is in the Pacific Northwest, which has the kind of climate it loves: moist, with cool nights and warm days, and more than 14 hours of sunlight during the summer months. Early mint farmers were forced to gradually move across the country until the only commercial growing land that wasn’t infected with the fungus was largely in the west. However, the fungal infection verticillium wilt devastated these early crops. Peppermint was first cultivated commercially in the US in the 19th century, after English settlers brought stolons with them to Massachusetts in 1812.
PEPPERMINT TREE SKIN
Today, extracts are used to aid digestion and ease symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, and when applied to the skin they may help alleviate headaches, itching, and sore muscles. Whether this refers strictly to peppermint or some other type of mint is unclear. The earliest record of its medicinal use comes from the ancient Egyptian text Ebers Papyrus. The oil is commonly used to flavor toothpaste, mouthwash, confectionaries, and cosmetics. In his book “The New Healing Herbs: The Essential Guide to More than 130 of Nature’s Most Potent Herbal Remedies,” available on Amazon, journalist Michael Castleman notes that both peppermint and spearmint were considered to be the same plant until 1696, when English botanist John Ray differentiated the two plants.įor centuries, peppermint has been distilled to extract its essential oil for use in flavorings and herbal remedies. Scientists don’t know exactly where it first came from, but it’s believed to have originated in the Mediterranean region. Like most mint varieties, the history of peppermint is a little unclear because it can be found growing wild in many parts of the world.
In the summer, the plant produces pretty pink or purple flowers on spikes. The leaves are broad and oval with toothed margins, and may be hairy. The stems are usually red and smooth, though some cultivars have green, hairy stems. Most often, plants top out at one to two feet tall. Peppermint plants can grow up to three feet tall and two feet wide at maturity, depending on growing conditions. The “pepper” part of its name is particularly apt since it has a spicy, pungent flavor derived from a unique combination of menthol, menthone, and menthyl acetate, as well as limonene and other terpenoids. The name comes from the Latin word Mintha, the Greek name of a nymph who was transformed into a mint plant (it’s a whole story) and piper, meaning pepper. Peppermint is a natural mint hybrid that grows wild throughout Europe, North America, and Australia.
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