Japanese name: マルバハッカ（円葉薄荷） Scientific name:Mentha suaveolens
[Overview]
A perennial 40–100 cm tall.
The stems and leaves are hairy, and the whole plant has a sweet fragrance.
The stem is square in cross section.
Leaves are simple and opposite, ovate-oblong to round, 3–5 cm long and 2–4 cm wide, with hairs on both surfaces.
The leaf margins are serrate.
Spike-like verticillasters 4–9 cm long and 0.5–1 cm wide are produced at the stem tips.
The flowers are two-lipped and 4-lobed, white or pale pink.
[Uses]
It is cultivated as a herb and used for herbal tea, potpourri, and flavoring cooking and sweets.
It is also used medicinally.
[Cultivation]
Propagate by division or stem cuttings.
It prefers slightly moist, well-drained soil in sun to bright shade.
It is hardy and spreads by underground stems, so when planting in a garden, it is better to make a barrier underground to keep it from spreading too much.
For potted plants, water when the soil surface dries.
Fertilizer is not particularly necessary, and too much weakens the fragrance.
It is strongly drought tolerant and also tolerates heat and humidity, but if the branches become crowded, they become stuffy and disease may occur.
