Frontier Natural Products - Spearmint Leaf Cut & Sifted Certified Organic - 1 lb. (453 g) Frontier Natural Products Certified Organic Cut and Sifted Raspberry Leaf contains non-irradiated raspberry leaves that are freshness dated. To ensure fresh flavor that's always pure and natural, Frontier's spices are quality tested and freshness dated. A parent of peppermint and one of the oldest mints cultivated, spearmint is used to flavor all types of foods, such as jellies, jams, candies, sauces, desserts and fruit dishes. It is also used to flavor and fragrance toothpaste, mouthwash, lozenges and chewing gum. Spearmint makes a refreshing herbal tea and is delicious iced or hot. Botanical name: Mentha spicata L. Common name: Spearmint Synonyms: Mentha viridis L., mint, common garden mint, green mint, lady's mint, mackerel mint, hoja de hierbabuena (Spanish) Botanical Description: A hybrid of Mentha sueveolens (Apple Mint) x Mentha longifolia (Horse Mint). Native to the Balkan Peninsula and northern and western Turkey (it is often noted that the exact natural range is uncertain due to extensive early cultivation). Also found as an introduced or naturalized plant through most of Europe and the Mediterranean area as well as in North America. Cultivated throughout the temperate region. Spearmint is an herbaceous rhizomatous (forms lateral stems on top of the ground that "creep" to form subsequent plants) perennial plant 30-100 cm tall. It features bright green, sharply pointed, toothed, lance-shaped leaves and flowers in slender, terminal spikes, pink or white, from June-August. The plant should be harvested just before or right as flowers open, as the aromatic components diminish once flowering has ceased. Commercial product is entirely cultivated from vegetative cuttings due to the high degree of inconsistency in plants grown from seed. Mentha species readily hybridize thus causing offspring that aren't true to the parent.
