Peppermint

Peppermint (Mentha × piperita) is a hybrid species of mint, a cross between watermint and spearmint.[1] Indigenous to Europe and the Middle East,[2] the plant is now widely spread and cultivated in many regions of the world.[3] It is occasionally found in the wild with its parent species.[3][4]

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Peppermint
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Lamiales
Family:	Lamiaceae
Genus:	Mentha
Species:	M. × piperita
Binomial name
Mentha × piperita L.
Synonyms
List Mentha × odora Salisb. Mentha × balsamea Willd. Mentha × banatica Heinr.Braun Mentha × braousiana Pérard Mentha × concinna Pérard Mentha × crispula Wender. Mentha × durandoana Malinv. ex Batt. Mentha × exaltata Heinr.Braun Mentha × fraseri Druce Mentha × glabra Bellardi ex Colla Mentha × glabrata Vahl Mentha × hercynica Röhl. Mentha × heuffelii Heinr.Braun Mentha × hircina Hull Mentha × hircina J.Fraser Mentha × hirtescens Haw. ex Spach Mentha × hortensis Ten. Mentha hortensis var. citrata Ten. Mentha × hudsoniana Heinr.Braun Mentha × kahirina Forssk. Mentha × langii Geiger ex T.Nees Mentha × napolitana Ten. Mentha × nigricans Mill. Mentha × officinalis Hull Mentha × pimentum Nees ex Bluff & Fingerh. Mentha × piperoides Malinv. Mentha × schultzii Boutigny ex F.W.Schultz Mentha × tenuis Frank ex Benth.

Although the genus Mentha comprises more than 25 species, the one in most common use is peppermint.[5] While Western peppermint is derived from Mentha × piperita, Chinese peppermint, or bohe, is derived from the fresh leaves of M. haplocalyx.[6][7][8] M. × piperita and M. haplocalyx are both recognized as plant sources of menthol and menthone, and are among the oldest herbs used for both culinary and medicinal products.[5][9]