Soup Mint
Other names
Mexican Mint, Indian Mint, Country Borage, French Thyme, Spanish Thyme
Growth habit
Herbaceous
Perennation
Cultivated as annual
Biocultural value
Mild oregano-flavored leaves season soups, stews, meat and fish dishes throughout the Tropics. It's an ingredient in zesty, green sauces popular in Trinidad, Puerto Rico and the Carribean.
Location
Source of plant
Barbara Cotts
Description
Decumbent, many-stemmed, aromatic, perennial herb. Stems to 1.5m with ascending inflorescence. Leaves 4.5x4cm, petiolate, ovate to ovate deltoid, densely pubescent on both surfaces and gland-dotted, apex obtuse or rounded, margin crenulate, margins white; petiole 4-11mm. Inflorescence spicate, flowers in dense glomerate verticils, bracts persistent; calyx 4-6mm, glandular-villous, uppermost tooth longest, apiculate; corolla 7-9mm, lilac, mauve or white tube slightly bent at middle expanding to throat, upper lip 1.5-2mm, lower lip 4mm; stamens united at base.
USDA Hardiness Zone
10
Special characteristics
tender perennial, foliage characteristics, food