Spearmint, or Mentha spicata, is a type of mint similar to peppermint. It's a perennial plant that hails from Europe and Asia but now commonly grows on five continents around the world. It gets its name from its characteristic spear-shaped leaves.

Is spearmint a true mint?

Spearmint, Mentha spicata, is one of about 25 species of herbaceous plants in the Mentha genus and Lamiaceae family. Members of this genus are aromatic, almost exclusively perennial plants and are known as the mints (or "true mints," to distinguish them from the other members of the mint family, Lamiaceae).

What is the history of spearmint?

Spearmint (Mentha spicata) was probably established in American gardens by 1739. Also called garden mint of English mint, this species now grows throughout the temperate regions of the world. The Ancients believed that mint would prevent the coagulation of milk and its acid fermentation.