Irish wildflowers BSBI map

Spear Mint, Mentha spicata, Cartlainn gharraí
Photographs: the Gearagh, Co. Cork

Spear Mint / Garden Mint
Mentha spicata
Cartlainn gharraí
Family: Lamiaceae

Flowering time: July-October. Perennial. Introduced.

Dense terminal spikes of pinky-mauve flowers with the stamens protruding. Leaves are lanceolate or narrowly ovate and more/less un-stalked. A strongly aromatic, more or less hairless plant spreading by underground rhizomes. Height to 90cm.

An occasional garden escape on damp or wet ground, roadsides and waste ground, usually near habitation.

Spear Mint, Mentha spicata, Cartlainn gharraí

Spear Mint, Mentha spicata, Cartlainn gharraí
Spear Mint, Mentha spicata, Cartlainn gharraí

Please Contact me if you find mistakes. All images are copyright.