| Corsican mint | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Lamiales |
| Family: | Lamiaceae |
| Genus: | Mentha |
| Species: | M. requienii |
| Binomial name | |
| Mentha requienii | |
Mentha requienii, or Corsican mint, is an herb and species of mint, native to Corsica, Sardinia, and Montecristo Island, and naturalized in Portugal and in the British Isles. It is a very low-growing species with bright green leaves and a strong minty aroma.
Corsican mint is one of the smallest members of the mint family. It grows to 3–10 cm tall, with small oval leaves 2–7 mm long and tiny mauve flowers in July and August that are insect pollinated. It has a strong aroma of peppermint. [1]
Corsican mint is native to Corsica, Sardinia and the Montecristo island. It has become naturalised in other parts of the world and is regarded as an invasive species in south eastern United States. [2] [ failed verification ]
Mentha requienii can be used in landscaping as a bedding plant, giving out a desirable mint smell when trodden on. Because it can indeed be walked upon without dying, it is sometimes used to line walkways, growing between stepping stones. Unlike most other cultivated mints, this plant stays diminutive and thrives in shady garden areas. However, if given too much moisture the leaves will rot. The best way to avoid this is to let the plant dry out between waterings, but not too much, because it is drought-sensitive. Baby's tears is used as a substitute in areas where Corsican mint is too fragile.
This plant is also used in cuisine, most famously as the flavoring in crème de menthe. [3] It is sometimes said to have a scent similar to pennyroyal.
In traditional medicine this plant has been used as an antiseptic, a carminative and a febrifuge. The smell of mint is disliked by rats and mice and this plant has been used for strewing on the floor to deter rodents. [1]
Corsican is a Romance language consisting of the continuum of the Tuscan Italo-Dalmatian dialects spoken on the Mediterranean island of Corsica, a territory of France, and in the northern regions of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy.
Mentha, also known as mint, is a genus of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae. It is estimated that 13 to 24 species exist, but the exact distinction between species is unclear. Hybridization occurs naturally where some species' ranges overlap. Many hybrids and cultivars are known.
Peppermint is a hybrid species of mint, a cross between watermint and spearmint. Indigenous to Europe and the Middle East, the plant is now widely spread and cultivated in many regions of the world. It is occasionally found in the wild with its parent species.
Spearmint, also known as garden mint, common mint, lamb mint and mackerel mint, is native to Europe and southern temperate Asia, extending from Ireland in the west to southern China in the east. It is naturalized in many other temperate parts of the world, including northern and southern Africa, North America, and South America. It is used as a flavouring in food and herbal teas. The aromatic oil, called oil of spearmint, is also used as a flavoring and sometimes as a scent.
Mentha aquatica is a perennial flowering plant in the mint family, Lamiaceae. It grows in moist places and is native to much of Europe, northwest Africa and southwest Asia.
Mentha suaveolens, the apple mint, pineapple mint, woolly mint or round-leafed mint, is a member of the mint family Lamiaceae. It is native to southern and western Europe including the Mediterranean region. It is a herbaceous, upright perennial plant that is most commonly grown as a culinary herb or for ground cover.
The Tuscan Archipelago is a chain of islands between the Ligurian Sea and Tyrrhenian Sea, west of Tuscany, Italy.
Asterix in Corsica is the twentieth volume of the Asterix comic book series, by René Goscinny (stories) and Albert Uderzo (artwork). It was originally serialized in Pilote issues 687–708 in 1973. It is the best-selling title in the history of the series, owing to its sales in the French market, but is one of the least-selling titles in the English language.
Mentha arvensis, the corn mint, field mint, or wild mint, is a species of flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae. It has a circumboreal distribution, being native to the temperate regions of Europe and western and central Asia, east to the Himalaya and eastern Siberia, and North America. Mentha canadensis, the related species, is also included in Mentha arvensis by some authors as two varieties, M. arvensis var. glabrata Fernald and M. arvensis var. piperascens Malinv. ex L. H. Bailey.
Thymus herba-barona is a species of thyme native to Corsica, Sardinia, and Majorca. It is also sometimes known by the common name caraway thyme, as it has a strong scent similar to caraway, for which it can be used as a substitute in any recipe. It can be used in cuisine or as an evergreen ground cover plant for the garden.
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the French mainland, west of the Italian Peninsula and immediately north of the Italian island of Sardinia, the nearest land mass. A single chain of mountains makes up two-thirds of the island. As of January 2024, it had a population of 355,528.
Mentha canadensis is a species of mint native to North America and the eastern part of Asia. In North America, it is commonly known as Canada mint, American wild mint, and in Asia as Chinese mint, Sakhalin mint, Japanese mint, and East Asian wild mint. The flowers are bluish or have a slight violet tint. The plant is upright, growing to about 4–18 in (10–46 cm) tall. Leaves grow opposite from each other, and flower bunches appear in the upper leaf axils. The mint grows in wet areas but not directly in water, so it will be found near sloughs, and lake and river edges. Plants bloom from July to August in their native habitats.
Mentha longifolia var. asiatica is known by the common name Asian mint. It is a variety of the mint species Mentha longifolia. It has also been treated as the separate species, Mentha asiatica and Mentha vagans.
Mentha × gracilis is a hybrid mint species within the genus Mentha, a sterile hybrid between Mentha arvensis (cornmint) and Mentha spicata. It is cultivated for its essential oil, used to flavour spearmint chewing gum. It is known by the common names of gingermint, redmint and Scotchmint in Europe, and as Scotch spearmint in North America.
The Tyrrhenian painted frog is a species of frog in the family Alytidae.
Mentha cervina, commonly known as hart's pennyroyal, is a perennial herbaceous plant of the Mentha (mint) genus. It is native to the western Mediterranean Sea region, growing naturally from southwestern France to the Iberian Peninsula, and south to Azores, Morocco and Algeria. Its common name reflects a traditional association with the separate species Mentha pulegium or pennyroyal. The plants were associated due to their shared high pulegone content, which gives them both a distinctive, strong aroma.
Yerba buena or hierba buena is the Spanish name for a number of aromatic plants, most of which belong to the mint family. Yerba buena translates as "good herb". The specific plant species regarded as yerba buena varies from region to region, depending on what grows wild in the surrounding landscape, or which species is customarily grown in local gardens. Perhaps the most common variation of this plant is spearmint. The term has been used to cover a number of aromatic true mints and mint relatives of the genera Clinopodium, Satureja or Micromeria. All plants so named are associated with medicinal properties, and some have culinary value as herbal teas or seasonings as well.
Mentha cunninghamii, known commonly as New Zealand mint or Māori mint, is a species within the Mentha (mint) genus, endemic to New Zealand.
Mentha gattefossei is a plant species in the genus Mentha, endemic to the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. It was first described by French botanist René Maire in 1922. Harvested for its essential oil, M. gattefossei has seen use in traditional medicine, pest control and as a food seasoning.
Mentha japonica is a species of plant in the family Lamiaceae, endemic to the islands of Hokkaido and Honshu, Japan. Initially described as Micromeria japonica by Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel, it was first identified under its present name by Japanese botanist Tomitaro Makino in 1906. A relatively rare plant, it is classified by the Japanese Ministry of Environment as a Near Threatened species.