Some species like the Coleus, a house plant with red and green leaves, have no aroma at all, while a patch of the more potent Agastache may bring tears to your eyes just passing through. You can safely sample any member of the Mint family. Eating a few Mint leaves after drinking from a creek certainly won't kill everything in the water, but it sure helps. On camping trips I often use aromatic Mints to help purify questionable water. Volatile oils are also highly lethal to microorganisms. Using a diaphoretic herb can help raise a mild fever just high enough to "cook" a virus, thus "breaking" or ending the fever. A fever is the body's way of "cooking" the microorganisms that cause infections. This property can help you break a fever. These spicy oils are stimulating and warming, causing the body to open up and sweat so most of these plants are listed as diaphoretic in herbal books. Medicinally this family is rich in volatile oils, especially menthol, often used as the penetrating vapors in cough drops. Approximately 50 genera are found in North America. Worldwide there are about 180 genera in the Mint Family representing some 3500 species. The rich, spicy quality of these plants makes them useful in cooking, and nearly half the spices in your kitchen come from this one family, including basil, rosemary, lavender, marjoram, germander, thyme, savory, horehound, plus culinary sage (but not sagebrush!), and of course mint, peppermint, and spearmint.įor the beginning botanist, that is all you really need to remember: "square stalks with opposite leaves, and usually aromatic". Be sure to smell it too, since many species of the family are loaded with aromatic volatile oils. If you pick a plant with a distinctly square stalk and simple, opposite leaves, then it is very likely a member of the Mint family. Home | Plant Identification | Plant Families Gallery | Edible Plants | Mushrooms | Linksĭesertification & Weed Ecology | Weed Profiles | E-Mail | Search this Site Native to the western United States: California,Oregon.Plant Identification, Edible Plants, Weed Ecology, Mushrooms, and more.Cut back lightly in fall to promote bushy growth.keep an eye out for aphids, whiteflies and rust. Performs best in full sun or partial shade in a variety of well-drained soils.Coyote Mint was used by Native Americans as a remedy for stomach upset, respiratory conditions, and sore throat. Quite compact, Coyote Mint can be used at the front of a dry border, along a walking path, in containers, herb gardens or rock gardens. The plant is evergreen but will shed its foliage during the hottest months if drought-stressed. Found across California in chaparral, coastal sage scrub, and various forest habitats, Coyote Mint is easy to grow and adds a refreshing presence in the landscape. Nectar-rich, the blossoms are attractive to insects, especially bees and butterflies. They are topped by a profusion of small, bright lavender or pink flowers in dense spherical flower heads from late spring to late summer. Noted for its pleasant mint scent, Monardella villosa (Coyote Mint) is a small perennial or sub-shrub forming a bushy mound of oval-shaped, soft, lightly fuzzy, grayish-green leaves.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |